AQ-Nov-2007-Jan-2008 by India Africa Connect

africa Q

Volume 47, No. 4 Nov 2007-Jan 2008

Africa Rising: A New Destiny Finding the right formula for growth A new destination for resources ! A roadmap for Gabon # ALSO in the issue: ! Profile: Navinchandra Ramgoolam ! Revisiting Pin Parvati Valley ! !

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Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi-110 002 E-mail: africa.quarterly@gmail.com Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India Regd No. 14380/61

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Indian Journal of African Affairs Volume 47 No. 4, November 2007-January 2008

INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS NEW DELHI

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contents

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NEW ECONOMY: FINDING THE RIGHT FORMULA FOR GROWTH

For sustainable growth, African economies have to diversify the sources of their growth, says Girijesh Pant

MISSION AFRICA: EMPOWERING A NEW GENERATION

There is a new mood of buoyancy and optimism as India seeks to collaborate with a resurgent Africa to create a new world order, says A.B. Mahapatra

FISH FOR ALL: A PERFECT CATCH IS WHAT AFRICA NEEDS

Mwelwa C. Musambachime explores sustainable ways of reviving Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dwindling fish stocks while protecting employment in the industry.

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ROADMAP FOR GABON: CAN AFRICA’S RENTIER STATE BAIL ITSELF OUT? If Gabon can diversify its oil-dependent economic base, it can grow rapidly, says Rashmi Kapoor

59 A HEALTHY AFRICA: In pursuit of a cure The Indian pharmaceutical industry has to make deeper inroads into Africa which continues to suffer from a deteriorating health profile, says Manendra Sahu.

15 NEWS & EVENTS: South Africa opens Freedom Park for public

HEART OF FLORA: CHANGING RATIO OF THE GREEN BELT AND SOCIETY

Sudha Srivastava presents the various perspectives on the state of forests and their management in India and Africa

South African government has opened to visitors a unique Freedom Park that has two heritage themes based on the wall inscriptions of heroes who fought eight great wars, and a monument for spiritual enrichment.

16 PROFILE: Pravasi Samman award for Mauritius Prime Minister

Navinchandra Ramgoolam was honoured for his sustained support for India’s causes and concerns, and for strengthening India’s historical relationship with Mauritius

64 BOOKS & IDEAS 70 DOCUMENTS 78 CONTRIBUTORS INCREDIBLE INDIA: PIN PARVATI VALLEY, THE LORD OF THE WINDS

The trek through the 5,000 metre-high link between Himachal’s Kulu and Spiti via the Parvati and Pin rivers seems like an anecdote from J R R Tolkien’s epic fantasy the ‘Lord of the Rings’.

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Rates of Subscription Annual Three-year Subscription Subscription Rs. 100.00 Rs. 250.00 US $40.00 US $100.00 £16.0 £40.0 (Including airmail postage) Subscription rates as above payable in advance preferably by bank draft/MO in favour of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi. Printed and Published by Pavan K. Varma Director-General Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan, Indraprastha Estate New Delhi - 110002 Editor: Manish Chand Cover Photo: Gold coins spilling out of sack Getty Images ISBN 0001-9828

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), founded in 1950 to strengthen cultural ties and promote understanding between India and other countries, functions under the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. As part of its effort, the Council publishes, apart from books, six periodicals in five languages –– English quarterlies (Indian Horizons and Africa Quarterly), Hindi Quarterly (Gagananchal), Arabic Quarterly (Thaqafat-ul-Hind), Spanish bi-annual (Papeles de la India) and French bi-annual (Recontre Avec l’Inde). Africa Quarterly (Indian Journal of African Affairs) is published every three months. The views expressed in the articles included in this journal are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICCR. All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any from or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of the ICCR.

Editorial correspondence and manuscripts, including book reviews, should be addressed to: The Editor Africa Quarterly Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi-110 002 E-mail: africa.quarterly@gmail.com

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■ From the Editor’s Desk

Africa’s tryst with its economic destiny

frica is in the middle of a defining economic resurgence that promises to have lasting implications for the global economy. The grim period of the African collapse of 1975-1990 and the decade-long economic slowdown till the middle of the nineties is well behind the continent as it puts its house in order, accelerate the pace of reforms and embrace new opportunities thrown up by globalisation. In many ways, the African continent, parts of which continue to be beset by political turbulence and civil wars, is scripting a new chapter in its economic history. Improved political stability, vigorous economic reforms, bold steps towards global integration, surplus oil revenues, robust commodity prices, cautious monetary and fiscal policies are some of the key factors spurring the African economic resurgence. Despite the global economic slowdown, the IMF’s forecasts conjure up a relatively upbeat future and suggest that Africa’s growth will only accelerate in the days to come. African economy is expected to grow at an average rate of over 5 per cent, which will be above the global average. Average growth in the sub-Saharan economies was 5.4 percent in 2005 and 2006. The consensus projection is 5.3 percent for 2007 and 5.4 percent for 2008. But this new economic buoyancy has also brought in its wake a host of challenges, not the least of which is the problem of balanced and sustainable growth. What Africa is looking for, as Girijesh Pant writes in his article “Finding the Right Formula for Growth,” is a holistic approach in which the state plays a developmental role without impinging on the prospects of the market. “The state has to retrieve its space as a key driver setting the trajectory where market potentials are factored in,” writes Pant in this edition of African Quarterly that seeks to capture different strands of Africa’s growth story. “African economies have to graduate from land-based growth to human resources knowledge to move away from dependent development and obtain the advantages of globalisation,” says Pant. Oil and mineral exporters of Africa are leading the way. Of the ten top performers in Africa, half are oil producers namely Angola, Libya, Mauritania, Republic of Congo and Sudan. This underlines the compelling need for African countries to diversify their economies. Oil-based economies have to take a hard look at evolving long-term strategies for harnessing oil profits for sustainable development and diversifying their economic base. Gabon is a classic example of the perils of over-dependence on oil revenues that the choke growth of the non-oil sector. As its oil production plummets, Gabon is waking up to the need to widen its economic base and deepen economic reforms and promoting higher value-added produc-

tion to spur faster integration into the world economy. The oil-producing West African country is also concentrating on developing its forestry sector and the enhanced production of commodities like manganese. But these measures are still insufficient for Gabon to achieve the millennium development goals. “In view of the unavoidable depletion of Gabon’s oil reserves, the diversification of the economic base remains the main concern of the Gabonese government. The nonoil related economic sector remains uncertain as it is in the rudimentary stage of development,” writes Rashmi Kapoor. Besides oil and mineral resources, Africa has massive spread of forest cover. Forests in protected areas cover about 5 per cent of total forest cover. East Africa has the largest proportion of its land under protection (12 per cent). Exploitation of forests for commercial gains, largely funded by external players, without tangible benefits for local Africans have underlined the need for a coherent and sustainable forestry policy. If deforestation continues at this pace, it is sure to have catastrophic consequences for the biodiversity and eco-system of the continent, argues Sudha Srivastava in her article. According to Srivastava, Africa needs to undertake the “Great Transition” that involves the establishment of democratic institutions that foster the widespread adoption of participatory approaches to local resource management. In the same vein, Mwelwa C. Musambachime argues for prudent use of fishery resources and explores sustainable ways of reviving Africa’s dwindling fish stocks while protecting employment in the industry. Economic development, however, can’t be sustained without a healthy workforce. HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are some of the major health threats that continue to undermine the economic vitality of the continent. There is also an acute shortage of health professionals. India, with its well-developed pharmaceutical industry that has come out with affordable generic drugs for curing AIDS and a vibrant health industry, is well placed to make a difference to the health profile of Africa, says Manendra Sahu. Issues of governance and transparency also need to be addressed head-on. There is an increasing realisation in Africa about the costs of corruption on levels of productivity and vitality. A host of debilitating problems like chronic violence in some countries, endemic poverty and illiteracy and the curse of HIV/AIDS pandemic continue to hobble economic potential of the resource-rich continent, but even here concerted efforts are being made to remove these obstacles on the way. A recent study by the World Bank has identified infrastructure, investment, innovation, and institutional capacity as the critical areas that need to be addressed urgently if Africa is to make up for the lost decades of global growth and catch up with its economic destiny. Manish Chand

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‘India-Africa ties set for major leap forward’

ndia is confident that its ties with Africa is poised for ‘a major leap forward’ in light of the first India-Africa Partnership Summit scheduled in April this year to promote stronger economic ties. “In the next five to 10 years, there will be a major leap in relations between India and Africa,” Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said at the sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, the annual conclave of overseas Indians, held in Delhi on January 9. Underlining the special ties between India and Africa dating back to the days of the common struggle against colonialism, Sharma announced the first India-Africa partnership summit. “Its aim is to create a structured format of engagement between India and Africa. We have set up working groups for the first India-Africa summit,” Sharma said. The summit will be attended by heads of eight regional groupings in Africa, five founding

members of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the current and founding chair of the 53-nation African Union. “It’s a reaffirmation of India’s commitment to ensure that this partnership grows in the future,” Sharma said. Without naming China that holds annual summits with Africa, Sharma said the continent had become fashionable but the ties that bind it with India were deeper and unique in many respects. Sharma also lauded the contribution of the Indian diaspora in Africa and commended them for their multifaceted contributions to their country of origin as well as their adopted homelands. “We are appreciative of the contribution of persons of Indian origin in the liberation struggle and in the fight against apartheid as well in the economic reconstruction of African countries,” he said. “India’s diaspora has enriched the socio-cultural milieus of the countries they live in,” Sharma said.

Welcoming India’s burgeoning economic ties with Africa, the minister called for doubling bilateral trade from $10 billion and underlined India’s contribution to Africa in the sphere of human resource development. Mauritian Deputy Prime Minister Ramakrishna Sithanen stressed on “leveraging social and cultural links” between India and Africa for economic development. Lauding India’s emergence as “a global player”, Sithanen sought more investments from India in Africa, especially in the infrastructure sector. “Africa needs investment in infrastructure. The continent needs a huge inflow of funds in infrastructure and capacity building,” he said. “The political will is there. The time is just right for the two sides to increase their economic engagement.” In a similar vein, Logie Naidoo, Deputy Mayor of Durban, highlighted the special historical, cultural and political relationship India and Africa have shared. ■

Seduced by ‘winnable war’ donors throw money at malaria

n Belalanda, a small village of reed huts in southwest Madagascar, women with faces smeared with a skin-lightening face pack file away from the local health clinic with packages on their heads. Each contains a free insecticidetreated anti-mosquito bed net, 1.5 million of which were distributed to pregnant women and children during the biannual Mother and Child Health Week in October. Malaria kills upwards of 1 million people annually, mostly young children in Africa. On this Indian Ocean island, the disease known simply as ‘tazo’ (fever) is the No. 1 cause of death, claiming two children every hour. The district of around 12,000 people in which Belalanda is located, near the coastal city of Tulear, gets about 20 cases a month, two or three them fatal. Waving away mosquitoes from the baby clamped onto her breast,

Charline Herla says she was treated for malaria for three years with an old, cheap drug called chloroquine to which some forms of malaria have become resistant. Help is now at hand as donors, seduced by talk of a “winnable war”, dig deeper into their pockets to try to swat a disease that was banished from Western shores after a last push in the US in the 1950s. “This is the most money malaria ever got,” anti-malaria campaigner Louis da Gama said triumphantly after the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria announced in November it was more than doubling its spending on malaria to $469 million. In explaining its decision to allocate 42 percent

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of its total spending to malaria — compared with only 10 percent for TB, which kills 1.6 million people each year — the Fund cited “spectacular” progress in 2007 in malaria prevention and treatment. With treated bed nets that protect at least two people from night-feeding malaria-carrying mosquitoes costing only a few dollars, malaria prevention offers considerable bang for donors’ bucks. Last year the Fund financed bed nets for 46 million families. ■

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Kibaki declared Kenyan leader amid clashes, protests

enyan President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner on December 30 amid re-ignited violence around the country after a tight, tense presidential race was marred by allegations of fraud. As Kibaki’s supporters celebrated in the capital Nairobi, pro-opposition protesters countrywide took to the streets charging the vote was rigged. Leaders had appealed for calm before Kibaki was declared winner, but local media reported riots had erupted in parts of the capital, as well as in Kisumu, a stronghold of defeated opposition candidate Raila Odinga. Thick black smoke billowed from Kibera, East Africa’s largest slum, while enraged residents of Kisumu attempted to storm the central police station, local station NTV reported. At least 10 people were killed in three days of widespread outrage that marked a disturbing change in the relatively stable country seen as a beacon

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki

of hope in a troubled region. Tribal fighting was also sparked, with Odinga’s ethnic Luo supporters and Kibaki’s Kikuyu backers burning homes and looting stores in slums around Nairobi. Kibaki won by some 200,000 votes over Odinga. The 76-year-old garnered 4.58 million votes to Odinga’s 4.35 million and was declared winner following a

tumultuous three days after the polls that saw ethnic violence break out countrywide between rival supporters and elicited accusations of incitement and graft from both sides. “The commission duly declares honourable Mwai Kibaki the President of Kenya,” said Samuel Kivuitu, the chairman. Odinga was ahead in most opinion polls before the vote as well as in the ballot counting and his supporters have alleged Kibaki’s win is due to vote rigging, alleging some 300,000 votes added to his tally. A spokesman from Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) would not comment on the results but said the feeling among the ODM members was “not so good”. The European Union’s election observer team voiced concern over the polls, with its chief, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff saying “some doubt remains as to the accuracy of the result of the presidential election”. ■

South African mining firm unveils black empowerment deal

South African-based manganese producing company has unveiled an empowerment deal which, it says, will allow the black population in Northern Cape to participate in a significant way in the economic activity of the region. The deal will see Samancor Manganese — one of the world’s leading producers of manganese — together with its partner, Ntsimbintle Mining, creating a new mining company, Hotazel Manganese Mines, and will lead to deeper and wider participation in the economy by black communities from the Northern Cape province. Ntsimbintle is a broad-based consortium made up of mainly black entities like Safika Resources, Nkonjane,

Wiphold, Northern Cape Women in Mining, the Kgalagadi Development Trust, the Natural Resources Empowerment Fund, the Retrenched Workers Association, the Hotazel Women’s Association and the Northern Cape Community Business Men. “The transaction provides Ntsimbintle immediate ownership of highly profitable assets and their associated cash flow, whilst Samancor gains access to further resources and reserves, some of which can be immediately accessed from existing Samancor mine operations,” Smancor said. Sabelo Macingwane, also of Ntsimbintle, said Northern Cape communities, who are shareholders in

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Ntsimbintle, now have a meaningful participation in the local economy through Hotazel Mines. “We welcome this partnership with Samancor, which is the leading manganese producer in the world,” said Ntsimbintle’s Saki Macozoma. “This transaction will facilitate the advancement of black economic empowerment in the Northern Cape,” said Vincent Maphai, chairman of BHP Billiton SA, which holds majority. BHP Billiton added that the transaction is subject to approval by the Department of Minerals and Energy for the transfer of Ntsimbintle’s prospecting rights and Samancor’s mining and prospecting rights to Hotazel Mines. ■

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South Africa opens Freedom Park for public

he South African government has opened to visitors a unique Freedom Park that has two heritage themes based on the wall inscriptions of heroes who fought eight great wars and a monument for spiritual enrichment. The Wall of Names is a series of inter-connecting walls inscribed with the names of men and women who died during the eight conflicts that shaped South Africa, BuaNews reported. “These are Pre-colonial Wars, Genocide, Slavery, Wars of Resistance, the Anglo Boer War, the First World War, Second World War and the Struggle for Liberation,” the South African news agency said. The two heritage sites are located in the Isivivane hill that has the spiritual centre and Sikhumbuto that houses the Wall of Names, an amphitheatre, an eternal flame, a gallery and a sanctuary. The monument in Isivivane demonstrates the link of all generations of the South African nation. For constructing the monument, nine provinces in the country were consulted on obtaining a huge stone with a historical significance. The Isivivane centre is a sacred space for spiritual enrichment. “The opening of park to the public is an important milestone. Visitors will not be charged for entering the park,” said Mongane Wally Serote, chief executive officer of the park. “Our objective is to accommodate all visitors during the festive season, which is a time for relaxation and exploration,” he said. The Freedom Park Trust has trained 20 local youths to be employed as our guides, which will help them to earn their livelihood. South African President Thabo Mbeki has called it “the most ambitious project of the democratic government”. The Park covers an area of 52 hectares in Pretoria. After the park was opened for the public, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission called for a symbolic reparation of victims of past atrocities to the centre. ■

The monument in Isivivane demonstrates the links shared by all generations of the South African nation.

Thousands pay tribute to Sri Swami Sahajananda

housands of people attended the funeral of Indian spiritual leader Sri Swami Sahajananda, the head of the Divine Life Society of South Africa, on December 11. From the Premier of Kwazulu-Natal province, Sibusiso Ndebele, to leaders from almost every field, people thronged to pay their respects to the Swami who set up or initiated more than 600 projects, including schools, old-age homes, clinics, peace and

skills training centres and hydroponic gardens for nearly six decades in South Africa. In keeping with his wishes, some of his ashes were scattered at the first ghat in South Africa, which he had helped set up a few years ago for use by Hindus here, while the rest is to be sent to India for immersion in the Ganges. “Swamiji dedicated himself to uplifting disadvantaged communities in the deep rural areas of our country for the past 58 years,” Ndebele said in his tribute. ■

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Southern Africa scales up disaster preparedness

isaster managers in eight Southern African and Indian Ocean countries have agreed to work more closely to combat the devastating effects of natural disasters. Faced with the worsening impact of floods and cyclones and heavy rain this year having destroyed the livelihoods of more than one million people across the region, the Comoros Islands, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and South Africa have signed a UN sponsored Declaration of Intent (DoI). Among other commitments, the emergency responders agreed in the draft DoI to share information and capacities for emergency response, establish regional rapid response teams, and develop protocols that allow for the free circulation of emergency personnel and relief materials in the region. The group further agreed on the need for Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders to demonstrate the political will and financial commitment necessary to ensure

the full implementation of their recommendations, including the reactivation of the SADC Disaster Risk Management Team. “This year, many governments in the region have taken steps in their own countries to be better prepared for the current rainy and cyclone season, in particular, undertaking contingency planning for disasters,” said Kelly David, the head of the United Nations

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Southern Africa, which hosted the Emergency Preparedness and Response Workshop in Johannesburg . “Now they are looking beyond that — to see how they can help each other and draw on international resources and technical expertise to better manage the impacts they all face from natural hazards.” ■

South Africa launches $11.6-bn alternative energy project

he South African government has launched a joint venture with oil major Bataung Oil and Gas and NT Energy Africa to develop sustainable alternative energy in order to meet the country’s increasing power demand. Bataung Oil and Gas is to begin exploration from coal bed methane reserves as part of the $11.6-billion project to meet the huge energy shortfall of the country. Bataung group’s chairman Billy Modise has said that the project comes at a time when the need to diversify the country’s energy sources has become quite necessary. For South Africa to meet the development and job creation targets as outlined in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa, it has become non-negotiable for developing a sustainable alternative energy source, Modise said. Currently, South Africa relies on about 1,400 megawatts

of power from South African electricity public utility Eskom. Managing director of Bataung Group Kinesh Pather said, “Coal bed methane and the conversion of gas to liquid fuels will provide a clean and long-term solution

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to the current energy crisis.” The project would require a potential investment of $10 billion in the next seven to 10 years and would be jointly funded by NT Energy and Bataung. ■

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Zambia, SA sign agreement to share technology

ambia and South Africa have signed a bilateral agreement for cooperation in science and technology. Zambia has a lot to learn from the scientific advancement that South Africa has achieved, Peter Daka, Zambia’s Science and Technology Minister after signing the agreement said. He said both the countries would benefit from the mutual cooperation. Daka lauded South Africa for cementing its relationship with the Zambia in the science and technology sector. According to the agreement, both countries will share technological expertise through exchange of scientists, technical experts and scholars in various fields. Seminars and workshops in areas of mutual interest will also be organised. Satyam ties up with Faritech A partnership between Indian IT giant Satyam and South African listed company Faritec is expected to boost employment and create new opportunities in the African telecommunica-

tions market. The strategic partnership follows the recent appointment of Satyam to support the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. The contract is worth millions of dollars. Faritec customer sales group executive Dilley Naidoo confirmed his company had been appointed by Satyam to assist with the security software, systems integration and IT infrastructure for these events. This initial partnership is also expected to extend into the local and regional telecommunications sector. Naidoo

said Faritec will leverage off Satyam’s intellectual property, global methodologies and world-class best practices to shorten its own time to market in the telecommunications sector. Faritec is a leading, black empowered IT services and solutions company listed on the JSE Securities Exchange, South Africa. Faritec combines intellectual capital, resources, technology and business processes to provide tailor-made IT solutions with the objective of assisting customers to manage their businesses more effectively. ■

EU-Africa summit reaches for stronger political ties

he European Union (EU) and Africa summit would go a long way in achieving the UN Millennium Goals (MDGs) by 2015, South Africa’s Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Pahad said at the EUAfrica summit. Addressing the media, Pahad underscored that “it was the first time that the countries present at the summit agreed on the issues affecting the continents”. “We came out [of the summit] fully endorsing a stronger political partnership, which includes the fight against terrorism, peace and security, climate change, poverty and migration,” the minister said. The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) — which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education by 2015 — form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. The summit was aimed at strengthening South Africa’s relations with the EU with a view to consolidating the African Agenda and meeting the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad). Nepad is African Union’s blueprint for socio-econom-

ic development on the continent. The first EU-Africa Summit was held in Egypt in 2000 leading to the signing of the Cairo Declaration which sought to give a new strategic dimension to the global partnership between Africa and Europe for the 21st century. Referring to Zimbabwe’s presence at the summit, Pahad said that the issue was discussed and all sides were able to put their concerns on the table regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. ■

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Africa’s largest lake under threat

ake Victoria is doomed,” lake specialist Eric Odada says with certainty regarding the future of the world’s second-largest body of water. And on closer inspection, the dire prediction seems like it might be right. Rows of filthy cars and trucks rest in the murky water, as boys scramble to get them clean, splashing soapy liquid that forms a creamy film above the surface — just one scene from the lake shore any environmentalist would baulk at. Behind the cars is a vast carpet of water hyacinth, a plant that thrives in polluted water and covers every inch of this bay on the shores of Kisumu, Kenya’s third city, stifling already dwindling fish stocks. As environment ministers from 190 countries met in Bali, Indonesia, to

thrash out a new emissions reduction plan, experts and some of the 33 million people who reside by or near the lake say urgent action was needed to prevent Lake Victoria from shrivelling up completely. Odada, who sits on a United Nations advisory board and hails from a village by the basin, said Lake Victoria has dried up three times in its history, but the risk of it happening again is due mostly to human-induced environmental effects, climate change being only one of them. Deforestation from villages around the lake or from the dozens of rivers that pour into it has caused silt and sediment to flow in, raising the water level and thus increasing the speed of evaporation. The water level has reduced

from 120 metres to 40 in less than a century. Ultimately, Africa’s largest lake could dry up entirely, killing all fish species in it. Odada said Lake Victoria was once home to 55 different fish species but now contains no more than 20. This is partly because of climate change, which has warmed the water, making food for fish less available. It is also due to the erroneous introduction in the 1950s of the Nile Perch, a carnivorous fish that has devoured many other species. Lake Victoria draws some 80 percent of its volume from rainfall. But industrial activities in northern Africa have brought phosphorus-filled precipitation south into the lake, filling it with contaminated water. ■

Thousands of locusts invade vast fields in Kenya, Ethiopia

housands of locusts have invaded vast tracks of land in Kenya and Ethiopia, eating up the crops and raising fears of disease. The locust infestation remains serious in northeast Kenya and southeast Ethiopia, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said. There have been new reports of infestations further west in both the countries, FAO’s Desert Locust Bulletin reported. Swarms of locusts, originating from Somalia, began to infest Kenya’s northeastern district of Mandera and some areas of Somali region in eastern Ethiopia by the

end of November, but have since moved to other parts. “In Kenya, at least one mature swarm crossed the Ethiopian border into Moyale district, west of Madera. “In Southeast Ethiopia, locust adults have been seen flying in the Borena area of Oromia region,” it reported. Lema Gebeyehu, head of the crop protection division in the ministry of agriculture and rural development, Ethiopia, confirmed locusts covered 375 hectares of land in Yabello and Teltale of Borena. According to experts, an average swarm consists of 40 million locusts and a single locust could eat up to two grams a day. ■

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US consulate celebrates Black history month

he American consulate in Mumbai hosted an eightday African-American Utsav to celebrate the Black history month of the US, at the American Centre from February 19 The event was organised in cooperation with the Katha Centre for Film Studies. The consulate put together an elaborate programme to celebrate the event, ranging from exhibition of jazz photographs by Navroze Contractor, jazz performance by Rhys Sebastian D’Souza, screening of movies, drama readings and discussions. The Utsav was intended to honour the struggle and triumph of millions of black American citizens, who surmounted obstacles like slavery, prejudice, poverty, as well as their contribution to the nation’s cultural and political life. The film screenings opened with the movie ‘Eyes on the Prize’ (1987) by Henry Hampton. The other films that were screened include director Sidney J. Furie’s ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ (1972), ‘The Blood of Jesus’ (1941; director Spencer Williams), ‘Song of Freedom’ (1936; director Elder Wills), ‘Killer of Sheep’ (1977; director Charles Burnett), ‘Straight No Chaser’ (1988; director Charlotte Zwerrin), ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasss Song’ (1971; director Melvin Van Peebles), ‘Daughters of the Dust’ (1991; director Julie Dash), ‘Sankofa’ (1993; director Haile Gerima), ‘Beloved’ ( 1998; director Jonathan Demme), ‘The

Color Purple’ (1985; director Steven Spielberg), ‘Mississipi Burning’ (1988; director Allan Parker), ‘Sanders of the River’ (1935; director Zoltan Korda), ‘Hallelujah’ (1929; director King Vidor), ‘Carmen Jones’ (1954; director Otto Preminger), ‘Imitation of Life’ (1959; director Douglas Sirk), ‘Herbie Hancock Trio: Hrricane’ (1984), ‘Body and Soul’ (1925; director Oscar Mecheaux), ‘The Emperor Jones’ (1933; director Dudley Murphey), ‘Jericho’ (1937; director Thornton Freeland), ‘Malcolm X’ (1992; director Spike Lee), ‘King of New York’ (1990; director Abel Ferrara) and ‘Moon over Harlem’ (1939; director Edgar G. Ulmer). The movies were introduced to the audience by Prabodh Parikh, director, Katha Centre for Film Studies, Amrit Gangar, film scholar, Kanchana Mahadevan, head of the department, Philosophy, Bombay University, Sobha

Ghosh, head of the department, English Language and Literature, SIES College, Arun Khopkar, film scholar, Amit Dutta, filmmaker, faculty, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and Kaushik Bhaumik, vice president, Osinama Programming. ■

India, South Africa set to sign visa agreement

ndia and South Africa are set to sign an agreement on the abolition of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and official passports. This decision will facilitate visa-free travel for diplomatic and official passport holders while entering and transiting from the territory of the other

country, Indian Information and Broadcasting Minister, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, said on February 14 after a cabinet meeting. India and South Africa have strong political and economic ties dating from the time of shared struggle against colonialism. The two countries are also members of the tri-nation IBSA forum that also comprises Brazil. ■

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Gala concert to kick off first India-Africa summit

gala multicultural concert and a multimedia show will kick off the first India-Africa summit in New Delhi on April 8 — an ambitious exercise that will provide a more contemporary character to ties between the two sides. The move appears to have been inspired by a similar summit China has held with African states and is aimed at reinforcing unique ties India has with Africa so as to empower the 53-nation continent. The multicultural song-and-dance extravaganza, choreographed on the lines of a similar show presented at the Saarc summit in New Delhi last year, is the brainchild of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR). The concert will be held on the evening of April 7 before the summit kicks off the next day. The ICCR is planning to invite a troupe of dancers and musicians from each of the 17 countries who will be participating in the summit, an official source said. The multimedia show that will be one long ode to myriad hues of Africa and the vitality of India-Africa ties will be presented April 8 in the presence of African heads of states and government. The summit has been structured as a three-tier interaction between senior officials (April 4), foreign ministers

(April 7) and 17 heads of states/government of the two sides (April 8) participating in this exercise. The summit will be also attended by heads of sub-regional groupings like the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS). Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia are among the countries that will be attending the summit. Many geopolitical and economic factors are at play in this summit. Although Indian diplomats like to

downplay Beijing’s growing clout in Africa, the idea of direct dialogue has been powered by New Delhi’s anxieties at increasing Chinese economic and energy engagement with the continent. India has a special relationship with Africa rooted in historical and cultural linkages, points out a senior official. “We are not in any race with China. Our main interest lies in empowering Africa through manpower training and technology transfers.” The summit will be held at a time when there is a strong possibility of the UN reform plan being revived with current members of the UN Security Council like Britain and France making a strong pitch for bringing the global body in tune with contemporary realities. ■

India plans duty-free imports to mark its Africa summit

ndia is likely to announce duty free import of select items from some African countries at its firstever summit with 14 African countries in April in New Delhi. The April 8 summit will come out with an action plan for reinvigorating India-Africa ties, and a political declaration that will encapsulate broad policy directions of this partnership in the 21st century, a top official source said. “We are working on a package of duty concessions that may cover some agricultural items for least developed

countries of Africa,” official source said. Total trade with Africa for 2006-07 was estimated at around $20 billion with exports to Africa growing by more than 180 percent. The duty-free and quota-free regime for some African countries will be a big step to energise trade ties between India and Africa. India is leaving no stone unturned to make the upcoming India-Africa forum summit a big success and expects it to be a precursor to a bigger summit with the 53-nation African

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continent. “The summit will showcase the brand image of India in Africa. Africa has changed and so has India. The forum will be appropriate to give a new direction to the partnership between the two sides,” said a senior official. India has also given generous lines of credit to assist the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and written off the debt owed by the African countries under the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Paris Initiative. ■

P R O F I L E

Pravasi Samman award for Mauritius PM Navinchandra Ramgoolam was honoured for his sustained support for India’s causes and concerns, and for strengthening India’s historical relationship with Mauritius

Indian President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil confers the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award to the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, at the valedictory session of the Sixth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-2008, in New Delhi, on January 9, 2008.

auritius Prime Minister Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam was among the 12 recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award 2008 that recognises leading achievers among the vast Indian Diaspora. He was honoured for his continued support for India’s causes and concerns, and for strengthening India’s relationship with Mauritius. The citation for the Mauritius Prime Minister, who was also the chief guest at the annual conclave, said the award was not only honouring “intrepid Indians who left the shores of India nearly two centuries ago to courageously build a new country in difficult circumstances”, but was also to pay tribute to his father, Sir Seewoosagar Ramgoolam, who is known as the Father of Mauritius. “As a popular leader, he (Navinchandra Ramgoolam) has also endeavoured to nurture and further strengthen the bonds between Mauritius and India in all dimensions and has provided exemplary leadership to the Indian Diaspora,” it said. In his address at the inaugural session of the Sixth Pravasi

Bharatiya Divas, Ramgoolam asked the global Indian Diaspora to grab the opportunity that India was providing as it rose to become a global power. Ramgoolam extolled his country’s relationship with India, with several cultural and educational institutions setting up bases in the island nation. The headquarters of the World Hindi Secretariat is hosted by Mauritius. “While we are totally loyal to our homeland, we also want to retain our connection with India,” he said, adding that Indians in Mauritius were “uniquely placed” to interpret India to the world, due to their “objective and deeply sympathetic view”. IndoMauritians, he said, were one of the “most well-established communities in the Indian Diaspora”. He said that Indians all over the world were linked to “Mother India” through the “golden thread” of the umbilical cord. “It gives immense pleasure to see India rise as a world power, as it was of satisfaction to you,” he said. “My plea to the Indian Diaspora is to grab the opportunity that India is providing,” he added. He called on India’s Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to set up an “active desk” to look at contributions from the Diaspora. Earlier in his speech, Ramgoolam pointed out that it was no coincidence that the Indian Diaspora who were deeply inspired by the Indian free-

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A F R I C A dom movement, were also at the forefront of the fight against colonialism in their own countries. He pointed out that his father, Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, had been the president of the London branch of the Indian National Congress and welcomed Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu to England. “It is no coincidence that a son of an indentured labourer led the freedom struggle (in Mauritius),” he said. He also paid tribute to the “strides made by women of Indian origin. Indra Nooyi, Sunita Williams, Kalpana Chawla and Jhumpa Lahiri are role models for our society seeking to give women a rightful place”. While Indra Nooyi is the CEO of the US food and beverages giant PepsiCo, Sunita Williams set a new women’s space walking record last year during her 195-day stay in space. While Kalpana Chawla, also an IndianAmerican astronaut, perished in the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster, teacher-turned-author Jhumpa Lahiri won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. He said, “it is a matter of satisfaction that India has recognised the unique potential of Pravasi Indians to contribute to its emergence as a global player. The networking that successive Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conclaves have engendered among Indian communities settled in different countries could be of enormous significance as the world becomes ever more interconnected and integrated.” The Mauritian Prime Minister also said how cooperation between Mauritius and India has been thriving for several years in fields such as education and training, culture, science, development assistance, trade and investment. “This would not have been possible without the deep commitment of both India and the fragment of the Diaspora that has made Mauritius its home.” He insisted that the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius could be considered as an example for the world. “The Indo-Mauritians are among the most well-established communities of the worldwide Indian Diaspora in terms of political participation, economic and social integration and cultural affirmation.” Mauritius has also benefited a lot from Mauritians of Indian origin. “They have reinforced the key values in our society: the importance of family life, the improvement of our children through education, industry, enterprise, tolerance and mutual respect.” The Mauritian leader also reminded the audience of the strong links that bind Mauritius with India. The Indian Immigration Archives at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute contain the biographical data of more than 400,000 Indian immigrants to Mauritius. “These archives constitute a tangible link between present-day Mauritians and the remote villages of India from where their ancestors came.” Ramgoolam, born on July 14, 1947, was first Prime Minister between 1995 to 2000, and was reappointed on July 5, 2005, after his Alliance Sociale (a coalition including his own Labour Party, the Mauritian Party of Xavier-Luc Duval, and several smaller groups) defeated the MMM-MSM coalition of the then Prime Minister, Paul Bérenger, in the general elections. He trained as a doctor in Dublin, Ireland and achieved full registration with the General Medical Council of the United

Q U A R T E R L Y

The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, with his wife, Veena Ramgoolam.

“Indo-Mauritians are among the most well-established communities of the Diaspora in terms of political participation, economic and social integration, and cultural affirmation. They have reinforced the key values in our society: the importance of family life, the improvement of our children through education, industry, enterprise, tolerance and mutual respect.” Kingdom in 1977. He later did a master’s in law at the London School of Economics before starting a political career. His first prime ministership (1995-2000) was marked by two by-elections that he won — though marred by island-wide racial riots after the death of Kaya (a famous Seggae singer), of Creole origin in prison. In 2000, two political leaders, Paul Bérenger and Anerood Jugnauth who joined hands, defeated him. Between 2000 and 2005, Ramgoolam was Leader of the Opposition. In 2005, a coalition involving his Labour Party won the elections on the rather controversial promise to introduce, if elected, a free transport service for the elderly and students. He also specified tight deadlines for achieving various other populist measures to ensure that his party could strengthen their hold on the country in the local elections that followed a few months later in 2005. ■

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H O R I Z O N S

Finding the right formula for growth For sustainable growth, African economies have to diversify the sources of their growth, says Girijesh Pant.

he World Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s report on Africa observes: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Something decidedly new is on the horizon in Africa, something that began in the 1990s. Many African economies are rewriting rules. Their growth stories have eclipsed the great African collapse of 1975-90 and the economic stagnations of 1985-95. And for the first time in three decades, African economies are growing with the rest of the world. The average growth in subSaharan economies was 5.4 percent in 2005 and 2006. The consensus projection is 5.3 percent for 2007 and 5.4 percent for 2008. Leading the way are oil and mineral exporters, thanks to the high prices.â&#x20AC;?[1] Clearly the African growth hinges upon extractive industry; significantly all five sub-regions are heavily dependent on primary commodities. It is observed that of the 10 top performers in Africa, half are oil producers, namely, Angola, Libya, Mauritania, the Republic of Congo and Sudan. Among other five top performers, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mozambique are mineral-rich countries. Consequently, in terms of economic growth, Africa might have better averages, but the disaggregation reveals wide dis-

parities across the countries and within, posing a serious challenge to the stability and sustainability of the very growth process, which is essentially derived exogenously. Moreover, the extractive sector, being non-renewable in nature, has a time span. Besides, some of its impact is irreversible like its ramifications for environment and ecosystems. At the social level, its impact on community disruption and displacement has been huge. A related issue is that its developmental benefits are grossly unevenly distributed at the cost of local sustenance. In this essay, an attempt is made to argue that for sustainable growth African economies have to diversify the sources of their growth and the market alone cannot accomplish that diversification in extractive economies. The state has to play its developmental role without impinging upon the prospects of the market. The political economy of extractive economies has distinct attributes unlike servicebased economies. Further, the impact of globalisation too varies between the two economies. African economies have to graduate from land-based growth to human resources knowledge to move away from dependent development and obtain the advantages of globalisation. With the onset of globalisation, the extractive industries have acquired strategic significance. The world market is

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expanding, the global consumption is rising and the demand for raw material is expanding. Consequently the prices of minerals are up, leading to better returns to the extractive sectors. The mineral exporters find an opportunity in the price boom and so try to maximise gains by expanding the scales of production and in the process enhancing the share of extraction in the gross domestic product (GDP). Significantly, global corporates are making huge investments, particularly due to a shift in the economic regimes in the raw material exporting countries. In the past, the state was the owner of the extractive sector in most countries. It was perceived as a national asset and the state its custodian. Today the paradigm has shifted. The economies are moving to the market mode and the ownership too is moving to the private sector. Thus the big companies are entering in a big way. “In 2006, the price of crude oil reached a level 10 times higher than its lowest point in 1998. Price increases have also occurred in metals such as aluminium, copper, nickel and zinc and by June 2007 they were far higher than the levels prevailing in 2003. As a result, corporate profits in the extractive industries have soared and international investments have rebounded.”[2] According to Fortune magazine, 500 companies in the extractive industry had exceptionally high profitability in 2005 and 2006 compared to other companies. “The net profits of Exxon Mobil for 2006 were the highest ever reported by a United States corporation. A study covering some 80 percent of the world metal mining industry by capitalisation found an increase in net profits, from $4.4 billion in 2002 to $67 billion in 2006.”[3] The extractive industry, being highly capital and technology intensive in nature, requires massive investments with relatively long gestation periods. It is indeed a billion dollar investment with a large scale and range of activities. Clearly, small and medium-size companies are not in a position to bear the burden. Thus it has to be a large-scale company. In the extractive economies the entrepreneur base has been very small. Thus it is the state, which has been managing the sec-

Q U A R T E R L Y

The state has to redefine its role from instituting to facilitating the transformation process. It has to play the role of a ‘development state’. However, a development state has to recognise the role of the private sector in expanding the frontiers of the economy. tor. The state in most of the extractive economies today is not in a position to spare resources nor does it possess the technology. Therefore, allured by the prices, it is privatising the sector. As local companies are not in a position to undertake these projects, transnational companies are expanding their participation in a big way. Participation of transnational companies indeed enhances the inflow of foreign investment, but it fails to accelerate the transformation of the extractive economies into knowledge-based economies. On the contrary, it promotes a rentier state and society perpetually dependent on the rent from the extractive sector. Hence the state has to redefine its role from instituting to facilitating the transformation process. It has to play the role of a ‘development state’. However, a development state has to recognise the role of the private sector in expanding the frontiers of the economy. It can even be argued that in the context

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of globalisation, the state has little choice but to engage the market in charting out the transformation processes. The point made here is that the neo-liberal model cannot trigger the transformation or sustainable development in the case of extractive economies. Being a resource-based economy, Africa has to conceive a “strategic approach to growth policy, identifying the binding growth constraints and the activities and sectors that are potential sources of job creation and growth. This strategy should also establish incentive mechanisms to channel resources to these activities and sectors.”[4] The state has to retrieve its space as a key driver setting the trajectory where market potentials are factored in. Along with the state, the role of the corporates too has to be defined to induce the transformation. While profit maximisation could be the motivating factor for the companies, the imperatives of sustainability demand that the corporates are engaged in the development processes as well. The scope of their engagement with society and what is called social invest-

ment in the context of extractive economies cannot be limited to a few philanthropic projects. It is argued here “in today’s world, minimising input costs and maximising returns relative to risk require corporations to utilise a model different from that employed in previous decades. Inputs would be minimised not only to reduce production costs but also to minimise an extraction project’s environmental footprint at each stage of the production change.”[5] The companies have to redefine the parameters of their balance sheet from the perspective of sustainability, which has a longer time dimension. Besides, they have to enhance the scope of their investment from merely transporting and marketing to local empowerment in terms of dividend, not in numbers of jobs alone but also in terms of enhancing capacities and capabilities that could become input at a much lower cost. The point here is that high growth cannot be sustained unless it is accompanied by social growth; hence the criteria for investment have to include social concerns. Ironically, in Africa it is observed that the extractive sector activity “is contradictory to the interests and concerns of local communities and the developmental priorities of African national economies.”[6] In that case the state and the market have to renegotiate the agenda for sustainable development. A synoptic view of Africa’s growth performance reveals that there has been a significant disparity across the five subregions. “North Africa recorded the highest acceleration in GDP growth, from 5.2 percent in 2005 to 6.4 percent in 2006, followed by Southern Africa, from 5.6 percent to 5.9 percent. There was a notable deceleration in growth momentum in West Africa, from 5.4 percent in 2005 to 4.2 percent in 2006.” What is disturbing is that differences between the oil exporters and others are widening. In 2007, the average real GDP growth rate for the continent was estimated to be 5.9 percent, with the difference between the two groups of countries even more marked at 7.4 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively. Projections for 2008 are for slightly lower growth for oil exporters and about the same for oil-importers as in 2007. The differential growth rates, shown in the following tables, clearly bring out the impact of oil prices. Importantly, of the 10 countries that had budget surpluses in 2006, seven have been oil exporters, namely, Algeria, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya and Sudan. Though oil prices are not likely to dive down, their volatile nature has a bearing on the future of these oil exporters. “The dependence of government budgets on oil revenue and external aid constitutes a source of vulnerability for fiscal balance and GDP growth. For oil producers, fiscal sustainability will require effective strategies for prudent management of oil revenues and strategies to utilise these revenues for enhancing economic diversification. Non-oil countries need to design mechanisms for increased mobilisation of revenue from domestic sources.”[7] The trajectory of transformation in the case of Africa’s extractive economies has to be seen in the context of the earlier experiences of African countries of diversifying their economies. According to a study, these economies show a

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A F R I C A very low level of diversification. Broadly speaking, four distinct phases could be discerned, the first phase up to 1982 is characterised by progress with diversification. The second phase covered 1982-1991, when diversification was reversed. The third phase was initiated from 1992. “The macro-economic stabilisation policies of the 1980s may have contributed to this positive development. Unfortunately, the gains registered were fragile as the improvement in the diversification index lasted only up to 1998. Since then, in the fourth phase of the diversification experience, African economies have become more concentrated, considering the upward trend of the diversification index from 1998 to 2002.”[8] The study also observes that the African diversification experience has been volatile and the gains have been very fragile. What is important as pointed out by the study is: “In 1980, the most diversified sub-regions were COMESA and ECOWAS. The least diversified was CEMAC with SADC and North Africa in between. By 2002, the diversification gains at the subregional level had changed, with the most significant gains made by SADC, which is now the most diversified sub-region on the continent. It is followed by COMESA and North Africa. CEMAC has remained the least diversified subregion.”[9] The fact that the predominance of oil in Nigeria impacted adversely on the diversification index of ECOWAS underlines the apprehension that the current windfall gains could impinge adversely on the regional diversification parameters. Apparently, without strategic investment the structural widening is not possible. Thus, while investment is a necessary condition, it is not sufficient because it is equally vital to see where the investment is going. It is rightly observed: “Although total investment has a positive impact on diversification, this is only possible if public investment crowds in rather than crowds out private investment. It is important to emphasise this caveat because it may not be the case at the country level that public investment crowds in private investment.”[10] It is argued that in Africa, the market has failed in mobilising resources and investment; hence the state has to come back. The state can pursue three objectives: namely, domestic economic integration, strategic external integration, and effective allocation of resources to achieve clear development goals.[11] “Policies implemented over the past quarter century have prioritised external integration over internal integration, resulting in disarticulation of the internal structures of most economies. It is now time to address this imbalance by designing policies that emphasise a strategic and phased external integration congruent with the overall development strategy of each country. In part, this will require policies that prioritise technological upgrading linked to a strategic promotion of FDI into those sectors synergistically connected to domestic research and development activities and national training programmes or skills formation within an investment-export nexus.”[12] From the political economy perspective of sustainable development in the extractive economies, the issue of transparency and governance also acquire significant importance.

Q U A R T E R L Y

In this context it is desirable that the countries work for a regime like the one spelled out by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). EITI aims at facilitating transparency and accountability around the payments and revenues associated with the extractive industries so as to reduce the incidence of poverty, conflict and corruption, otherwise known as the “resource curse”.[13] Importantly, EITI is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organisations. It is becoming the internationally accepted standard for transparency in the oil, gas and mining sectors. African countries are gradually moving to accept it. Nigeria has its Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and its board was recently reconstituted by the president. Similarly, other African countries too have shown an inclination for such arrangements. The point made here is that the transformation of the extractive economy towards sustainable development would require both vision and governance. In operational terms, the strategy for sustainable development has to synergise the interests of local stakeholders with those of the external players. ■ Notes and References ■ African Development Indicators 2007. The World Bank http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSTATINAFR/Resour ces/adi2007_final.pdf ■ World Investment Report 2007 ■ PricewaterHouse Coopers, 2007 ■ Economic Report on Africa 2007 Chapter 3, Recent Economic Performance in Africa and Prospects for 2007 www.uneca.org/era2007/ ■ Saleem H. Ali and Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh Extractive Industries, Environmental Performance and Corporate Social Responsibility ■ http://www.elca.org/advocacy/corporate/extractive_industries.asp#foot ■ Recent Economic Performance in Africa and Prospects for 2007 ■ Accelerating Africa's Development Through Diversification www.uneca.org/era2007/chap4. ■ Diversification and Growth in www.uneca.org/era2007/chap4. ■ Reclaiming Policy Space: Domestic Resource Mobilization and Developmental States ■ http://eitransparency.org/eiti/summary

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Empowering the next generation There is a new mood of buoyancy and optimism as India seeks to collaborate with a resurgent Africa to create a new world order, says A.B. Mahapatra.

frica is emerging as the new darling due to its vast swathe of largely untapped resource base and Westerners and Asians are in fierce competition to tap them on their terms and conditions. This has generated unprecedented levels of criticism and counter criticism in recent times as to who protects Africa’s interests better. India being a new entrant in this resources competition is drawing much attention these days. But at the centre of all Africa’s issues and challenges lies the persistence of poverty. Africa is by far the poorest continent and marginal in the global trading system. Poverty adds to the potential for conflict, the vulnerability to terrorist influence, the pressures of illegal migration and the spread of disease; it constitutes a drain on worldwide aid resources. Thus, the humanitarian problems return centre stage. The purpose of providing humanitarian aid is not altruistic philanthropy but a brazen attempt to stay ahead and satiate the growing Western need for mineral resources, raw materials, natural gas and crude oil from Africa. The Chinese are at the forefront of this race for resources with no concern for any

despotic or tyrannical regime, humanitarian disasters or international opinions. China being a P-5 member of the UN Security Council has a huge advantage over India, Brazil and Korea and so on in its dealings with the region. Some basic analysis suggests that Africa’s problems revolve around following areas and without tackling these there cannot be substantial progress. ! Fierce competition for resources in Africa led aggressively by China, along with India, Korea, Brazil, Malaysia and the ilk. ! Importance of African energy to the US, in light of the problems with existing sources in the Middle East and Latin America. ! The strength of African numbers in trade negotiations at WTO, and their collective bargaining power in concert with India and Brazil at the Doha Round. ! Africa’s importance in the global ‘War on terror’, to counter the influence of Al Qaeda in the region. ! Concerns over the current state of health in Africa — TB, AIDS, avian influenza, malaria etc. In turn, the Indian approach to Africa is more comprehensive and fundamentally better suited for Africa. Many Indian goods have much greater suitability for African than Western markets. Indian computers and Tata cars, for instance, are in much demand in many African countries.

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India’s democracy in a postcolonial setting has relevant lessons for Africa. India also offers important experiences in agricultural expansion, clean water management, and in combating the growing threat of climate change. But in some areas, the Indian approach is also similar to the Chinese and the Western patterns. Indian firms like IOCOIL and ONGC-Mittal in Nigeria and Mittal Steel in Liberia have been equally controversial and impenitent in their methods and dealings. India’s hope for success vis-à-vis China in the dark continent is queerly buoyed by statements like this attributed to Zambian opposition MP Guy Scott: “People are saying, ‘The Whites were bad, the Indians were worse, but the Chinese are worst of all’.” Interestingly, Africa has been known to India for centuries culturally, economically and geographically. Afro-Indian links even date back to the time of the Indus Valley civilisation. Mahatma Gandhi had predicted: “Commerce between India and Africa will be of ideas and services, not of manufactured goods against raw materials after the fashion of western exploiters.” China’s rising power is, of course, based heavily on its remarkable economic success. The African Development Bank meeting took place in the Pudong district, Shanghai’s most remarkable development site, last summer. Chinese officials stressed the crucial role of public investments, especially in agriculture and infrastructure, to lay the basis for privatesector-led growth. In a hungry and poor rural economy, as China was in the 1970s and as most of Africa is today, a key starting point is to raise farm productivity. Peasant farmers need the benefits of fertiliser, irrigation, and high-yield seeds, all of which were a core part of China’s economic takeoff. Two other critical investments are also needed: roads and electricity, without which there cannot be a modern economy. Farmers might be able to increase their output, but it won’t be able to reach the cities, and the cities won’t be able to provide the countryside with inputs. The officials stressed how the government has taken pains to ensure that the power grid and transportation network reaches every village in China.

Q U A R T E R L Y

Of course, the African leaders were most appreciative of the next message: China is prepared to help Africa in substantial ways in agriculture, roads, power, health, and education. African leaders already know that this is not an empty boast. All over Africa, China is financing and constructing basic infrastructure. During the meeting, the Chinese leaders emphasised their readiness to support agricultural research as well. They described new high-yield rice varieties, which they were prepared to share with their African counterparts. China is succeeding where the World Bank is failing. The Bank’s failures began in the early 1980s when it tried to get Africa and other poor regions to cut back or close down government investments and services. For 25 years, the bank tried to get governments out of agriculture, leaving impoverished peasants to fend for themselves. The result has been a disaster in Africa, with farm productivity stagnant for decades. The bank also pushed for privatisation of national health systems, water utilities, and road and power networks, and grossly under financed these critical sectors. This extreme free-market ideology, also called “structural adjustment”, went against the practical lessons of development successes in China and the rest of Asia. Practical development strategy recognises that public investments — in agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure — are necessary complements to private investments. The World Bank has instead wrongly seen such vital public investments as an enemy of private-sector development. China’s engagement with Africa is showing a massive competition even at political level. China is dealing with despotic and tyrannical regimes of Africa which are corrupt. These despots are happy dealing with China for their personal benefits. It would be great if they would implement the Chinese model and uplift their towns and villages. Actually, the Chinese come to a place, get their own contractors, sub-contractors and labourers. There is very little trickle down effect, if any at all, for the local community. The locals have already started resenting the new colonialists, who speak in Mandarin. On the other hand, Indian needs to do better and take these

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fallouts into account. There is no point following the Chinese versy in Liberia over a $900-million deal to mine ore with model — it is doomed. India should dehyphenate itself from Mittal, whose contract allowed the company to opt out of China and charter its own path, a sustainable model different national human rights and environmental laws. The contract from the ex-colonial masters, China or the West. It is a chal- has undergone few rounds of review by the Liberian Senate lenge to attain that paradigm shift and time will tell whether to unravel the wrongdoings. India was able to rise to the challenge. In Africa, energy interests are fast expanding like the uniIndia is initiating a new round of cultural and political con- verse. The US currently derives 15 percent of its oil supplies tacts with Africa. Recently, Indian Prime Minister Dr. from Africa as compared to 22 percent from the Persian Gulf. Manmohan Singh visited Nigeria which was in fact the first Within the next 10 years, the US could be depending on Africa high-level contact in decades. India also offered timely assis- for a quarter of its oil supplies, according to the US National tance during the worst ever floods in Africa which is experi- Intelligence Council. Nigeria alone is the fifth-biggest source encing massive climate change due to global warming. of US oil imports, with the US accounting for half of Nigeria’s India’s involvement in West Africa is expanding beyond its oil exports. Similarly, in recent years, China’s political, ecotraditional Commonwealth partners (Nigeria and Ghana). nomic and military relations have been subordinated to its Although Nigeria is India’s largest trading partner (worth $3 quest to secure energy resources in the African continent as billion in trade — mostly oil), Indian investment in Côte energy resources are being secured in exchange for aid, arms d’Ivoire will grow to $1 billion during the period 2006 to 11- or infrastructure investment. 10 percent of what Indian companies have invested abroad in A major deal that India lost to China in 2004 illustrates the the last decade. intense Chinese-Indian competition over energy in Africa. Benin accounted for more than half of India’s exports to Angola’s state-owned Sonangol reportedly blocked an Indian Francophone Africa in the 1980s. Its main import — the so- move to buy Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell’s 50 percent called real Madras handkerchief or share in Block 18 for about $620 milAfro-Indian links date back ‘Madras George’ — was, in fact, lion. India’s state-run Oil and handloom material cut in strips meaNatural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to the time of the Indus Valley suring 8 x 1 yards, which was used to had almost closed with Shell, but the Civilisation. In fact, make women’s dresses. Chinese evidently cut a deal with the Mahatma Gandhi had At present, India is the largest Angolan government at the last investor in Ghana, the second-largest predicted, “Commerce between minute, resulting in Sonangol exertrade partner of Senegal and the cising its pre-emption rights. This India and Africa will be of third-largest export destination for stymied Shell’s move to sell its stake ideas and services, not of Nigeria, after the US and Spain; it to ONGC, a deal that would have obtains about 20 percent of its oil yielded about five million tonnes of manufactured goods requirements from Nigeria. More crude oil daily for New Delhi from against raw materials after than half of India’s imports of cashew 2008 to 2009. It is widely believed the fashion of western nuts are from Côte d’Ivoire that China managed to swing the and Guinea-Bissau, while Mali, deal by offering aid to the tune of $2 exploiters.” Benin and Burkina Faso export highbillion for a variety of projects to quality cotton to India. Angola, compared to India’s offer of $200 million for develMoreover, of the 12 fastest-growing emerging markets in oping railways. the world, six are in Africa and no fewer than five in West To date, African leaders have responded to China’s interest Africa. Thus, India launched an initiative in 2004 called in West Africa positively, seeing it as an alternative source of Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement investment and countervailing force to Western interests and (TEAM-9), together with eight energy- and resource-rich influence. But when the tide turns against China, India may West African countries, including Senegal, Mali, Guinea- be more welcome in the region for similar reasons vis-à-vis Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. Within the China as China is against the Western powers. India also has framework of TEAM-9, India extended lines of credit total- the relative advantage that English is one of its official laning $500 million to the eight West African countries. It has guages. While the ‘softness’ of the Indian state and its demobecome so successful that at least six other countries are inter- cratic procedures as well as its incoherent approach are conested in joining the initiative. sidered liabilities today, they may prove its biggest assets. But India is in search of energy all over Africa. India faces Indeed, India should guard against blindly copying the fierce competition from the West and other Asian countries Chinese model in West Africa as well as the rest of Africa and to secure West African resources. India’s quest for energy in allow its own distinct policy towards the region to evolve. West Africa is not a core component of the government’s enerHowever, Western assessment of India’s Africa policy is gy security policy, rather it is part of its bid to diversify ener- quite demeaning. In January 2005, the US National gy sources. India is prepared to offer package deals offering Intelligence Council (NIC) convened a group of leading US infrastructural investments in addition to cash bonus pay- experts on Sub-Saharan Africa to discuss likely trends in the ments on signature of contracts. There has also been contro- region in the medium term. The NIC report assumed that

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India has no Africa policy: “Over the next 15 years, there is probably a greater possibility of India developing a distinct foreign policy with political interests toward Africa.” Today, the growth in economic ties between India and West Africa seems dramatic because it started from a very low base; indeed, it is likely to flatten in the coming years. India is in direct competition not only with the old colonial masters in the region (such as France) but also with cashrich China for a share of the West African pie. The unstable security climate, the patterns of conflict, the fragile political state, weak democratisation, religion, terrorism and the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS all have the potential to derail the Indian success story. Whatever role India ultimately plays in West Africa, perhaps the most important element it introduces is competition. “For Africans, it is quite a welcome change from the approach they get from Western governments that manages to be both patronising and demeaning at the same time,” Duncan Green, head of research at the British aid organisation Oxfam, commented recently. The immediate reaction is to compare it to the IT revolution in India — substantial, silent and largely unnoticed. But there is a significant difference — the government has played a major role in kick-starting this process and that too over two different ruling formations and under three different foreign ministers. Essentially, India’s focus on Africa is about more than natural resources. Instead, India is — perhaps judiciously — focusing more on investments in service industries and encouraging Indian companies to take significant stakes in Africa’s economic development. This avoids competition with China, and can only be good for both Africa and India. Over the past four decades, India has provided more than $2 billion in technical assistance to the countries of the South and most of it has gone to Africa. In the 1990s, a

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number of projects were initiated with Indian help. An Entrepreneurial Training and Demonstration Centre (ETDC) costing $4.49 million has been constructed in Dakar (Senegal) by Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) and handed over in June 2000. In Namibia, India has assisted in setting up a Plastic Technology Demonstration Centre. In 1994, the government launched a programme for cooperation with select African countries for the development of small-scale industries (SSI). These countries were Nigeria, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia. The government offered finance for implementation of these programmes under ITEC. A small-scale industry development project is also under execution in Zimbabwe. An important training-cum-demonstration project entitled Indian Farmers Project is to be set up in Burkina Faso. In Senegal, Indian officials have been involved in providing feasibility studies for a dairy development project and an incense stick project. Feasibility studies for the establishment of a poultry vaccine laboratory in Mali and for improvements in the education system in South Africa were also conducted. Since 1964, India has also provided civil training to over 14,500 trainees from various countries, mainly from Africa, under the ITEC programme. The countries were Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Therefore, India’s policy has to strike a balance about a search of its own needs in Africa as well as long-term presence and empowering Africans — a key element which the Westerners have diluted for decades. There is no need for India to follow any available model, rather it can introduce a new one, It based on long-standing historical ties and the transformation underway in both countries. ■

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A perfect catch is what Africa needs MWELWA C. MUSAMBACHIME explores sustainable ways of reviving Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dwindling fish stocks while protecting employment in the industry.

n the last decade, poverty alleviation has become a priority agenda for many developing countries. The agencies of the United Nations, the World Bank and other donor agencies have recognised the elimination of poverty as the primary challenge which needs to be tackled and reduced by half by 2015 as stated in the Millennium Declaration adopted by the world leaders at the Millennium Assembly in September 2000. The developing countries have limited resources and funds to pursue their national development agendas. To alleviate poverty and promote economic development the developing countries have stressed on the importance of effective SouthSouth cooperation, a concept that was evolved by leaders of this block to foster economic ties and encourage technology transfer among member countries from those who are in the position to lend their helping hands. Sharing crucial expertise and knowledge as well as best practices and experience among developing countries is an important component to ensure the success of South-South Cooperation.[1] The economic, social and cultural relationships between India, the islands and the East African Coast in the West Indian Ocean (hereafter WIO) have a long history of antiquity. For centuries, using dhows and supported by the monsoon winds,

lucrative trade in ivory, spices, silk and cotton cloth, cowries shells which were used as a currency, timber, slaves and other items flourished between Western India, the islands in the Indian Ocean and the East Coast stretching from Mogadishu in Somalia to Sofia in Mozambique and way south to parts of South Africa, fitting in neatly in the theme of the conference. Lucrative trade brought wealth, new technologies and ideas to many individual traders, families and ports and the surrounding neighbourhoods for centuries. Today, countries in WIO region continue with the centuries old relationships.[2] Since the developing countries still share common needs, the South-South cooperation is more valid and relevant than ever. Today, new industries in information communication technologies have emerged in WIO Rim varying in quantity, quality and sophistication. However, one industry that is not given prominence is the fishing industry, supplying fish for domestic consumption and external trade. In the WIO fishery, in the marine environments, fishing is an ancient human tradition that satisfies vital food needs of millions of people and is economically, socially and culturally a very important activity. While fishing itself is a male-dominated activity, women play an important role in handling, processing, distribution and marketing of fish as well as in financing fishing activities. The involvement of women varies from country to country due to differences in cultural norms and beliefs. The family

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A F R I C A incomes remain low compared to the national average.[3] For centuries, just as they do today, fishing communities have harvested varieties of fish species and marine life for their consumption. Fish has served as an inexpensive and easily available source of complete protein and essential nutrients in the diets of many countries in the region. Marine fisheries give employment to millions of full-time and part-time fishers. The incomes of the fishing families are generated by the fishing and related activities such as boat and gear manufacturing and repairing, fish handling and processing, distribution and marketing. To these must be added fuel and lubricants, boats, wood and carpentry. They all depend on the economic vibrancy of the sector.[4] It is also an important economic activity. Although fisheries are a small sector in the economies of the countries in WIO, they are, individually and collectively, making an ever-growing contribution in supplies of food, food security and stability to the communities living along the coast, lakeshores, riverbanks, swamps and streams; thus, contributing in the employment and well being of coastal communities, and earning of foreign exchange. And in a number of countries, capture fisheries are being supplemented by aquaculture. Fish proteins are essential and critical in the diets of the populations of all countries, where the total protein intake level may be low. The latter involves the export of local catches by artisanal fishers and also of those caught by distance fleets from the European Union, East European and the Far East, which are posing a great threat to the fishing resources. The combined activities are resulting in over fishing, depletion of fish resources and degradation of the fisheries. There is therefore an urgent need for the countries in this region to work together and formulate sustainable strategies and to manage and exploit fish resources.[5] This fishery has the following characteristics: ! Very few small-scale fisheries are subjected to any form of management; ! The fishery has open access, with little or no control over the gear and the fishing effort; ! The fishery has not been subjected to a specific management plan; ! There is no linkage between scientific information and structural management plans; ! There is potential for conflict; although virtue level of wasted by catch is low, the impact on juveniles of target and other species is high.[6] Threats to Fishery With the advent of the industrial age, fishing has been transformed from a subsistence or artisanal activity into an industrial resource extraction. In the last decades this process has been assisted by improved management systems, improvements in technology, port and road infrastructure, Land, sea and air-transportation, communications, conventions and agreements and by sustained demand. Besides those who are directly involved in primary production of fish, there are others who are involved in ancillary industries, such as boat building, gear making, ice production, packaging, marketing, dis-

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FEEDING FRENZY: Fishing is the most important economic activity in Diego Suarez, North Madagascar. As the region is not shielded by any large neighboring landmass, it is exposed to strong currents that punish the Indian Ocean. Navigation is hazardous that even freight ships cannot pass the Cap d’Ambre. Yet almost daily, fishermen go by their daily chores of venturing out into the bay in single hull small boats. Being small is an advantage here.

tribution, refrigeration, engineering, and many others who are involved in research, development and administration connected with the industry. In a region faced with chronic scarcities of foreign exchange, exports of fishery products represent vital sources of exchangeable earnings. The shrimp fishery on the Sofala Bank contributes up to 40 percent of Mozambique’s foreign exchange, despite seemingly low land. Landings by regional countries in the area have somewhat stagnated since the 1990s. Many of the reported catches are not identified to species, preventing an analysis of resource status at species level. However, there does not appear to have been any reductions in fishing effort and thus the relative constancy of catches indicates that the resources exploited by regional countries may be “fully” exploited. However, reported catches by distant-water fishing nations have increased dramatically through the 1990s with Spain and France together accounting for over 50 percent of these catches.[7] Landings by regional countries in the area have stagnated somewhat since the 1990s. Many of the reported catches are not identified to species, preventing an analysis of resource status at species level. However, there does not appear to have been any reductions in fishing effort and thus the relative con-

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stancy of catches indicates that the resources exploited by regional countries may be “fully” exploited. However, reported catches by distant water fishing nations have increased dramatically through the 1990s with Spain and France together accounting for over five percent of these catches.[8] Within the context of the Millennium development Goals (MDG 1), improving the productivity of natural resources base on which the fishers depend and working for pro-poor policies will result in direct benefits in terms of eradicating poverty and hunger. The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has estimated that for every person involved in direct primary production, there are four to five jobs created to facilitate the sell of fish to the consumer. Fisheries are, therefore, an important sector in the WIO fishery.[9] The FAO has divided the world’s marine environment into

19 fishing areas. One of the largest is the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) stretching from the western shore of India to the Eastern Shore of Africa, accounts for eight percent of the total global waters, designated by the FAO as Statistical Area Number 51. (See the Map.) The WIO area has a surface area of around 30 million km. The East coast of Africa represents a wide range of oceanographic environments and the western Indian Ocean is the site of some of the most dynamically varying large marine ecosystems in the world. The region comprises 14 coastal states whose territories are situated wholly or partly within the region, encompassing the mainland states of the Arabian Peninsula (covering Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates), Iran, Pakistan; the western shore of India and Sri Lanka; East Coast of Africa: Somalia Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, to the eastern part of South Africa’s Cape Agulhas covering a coastline of 8,440 km. Further to the south, South Africa has fisheries of a temperate and subTable 1: The Major Commercial Marine Species, Crustaceans and Other Species Exploited in Coastal Antarctic nature; and the island states of the Indian Ocean, the largest being Waters of the WIO Region Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Reunion, that have their English Name Scientific Name own characteristic fisheries reflecting their Barracuda Sphyraena spp. (Sphyraenidea) oceanic character.[10] Cobia Rachycentron canadu (Rachycentride) Where this is possible, the WIO counCobia Rachycentron canadu (Rachycentride) tries claim up to 300 km (200 nautical Croaker Otolithes rubber (Sciaenidae) miles) as Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Dolphin Fish Coryphaena spp. (Coryphaenidae) covering over 5,000,000 km², of which Emperors Lethrinus spp. (Lethrinidae) 231,184 km² are along the African Coast... Frigate Mackerel Euthynnus affinis (Scombridae) The continental shelf along coasts is narGoatfish Upeneus spp. (Mulldae) row, usually extending not more than Grouper Epinephelus spp. (Serranidae) between 6 to 30 km from the shore, and in Hammer Shark Sphyna zygaena (Sphyrnidae) some, such as in the area from Raps Astir Mullet Liza spp. Valamugil spp. (Mugilidae) to Raps Amber off the coast of Somalia, Rays Numerous species (Rajiidae) which are up to 60 km wide. The distribuSailfish Istiophorus platypterus (Istiophoridae) tion of fish stocks is strongly influenced by Sardine Sardinella spp. (Clupeidae) environmental factors such as the temperSaw Shark Pristis pectinata (Pristidae) ature, salinity, nutrients, upwelling, and the Skipjack Tuna Katsuwonus pelamis (Scombridae) thermo cline. Seasonal variations in abunSnapper Lutjnus spp. (Lutjanidae) dance are considerable with two peaks in Spanish Mackerel Scomberomorus commerson (Scombridae) the landing: in November and in March Spinefeet Siganus spp (Siganidae) with Southwest monsoons. Swordfish Xiphias gladius (Xiphiidae) The WIO area is exceptionally rich in Tiger Shark Galeocerdo cuvieri (Elasmobrachchii) biodiversity and mariner resource encomTrevally Carangoides spp. (Carangidae) passes regions with greatly differing fishery Wolf Herring Chirocentrus spp. (Chirocentridae) resources and characteristics. Wrasse Bodianus binulatus (Lambridae) Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares Yellowfin Tuna Thunnus albacares Marine Crustaceans Species Spiny Lobster Panulirus spp. Shrimp Penaeus spp. Other Species Cuttlefish Sepia spp. Squid Loligo spp. Octopus Octopodidae spp.

(Scombridae) (Scombridae) (Palinuridae) (Penaeidae) (Sepiidae) (Loliginidae) (Octopodidae)

Source: FAO, 2004.

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Fish Resources This fishery has a huge potential for offshore fisheries development. FAO studies show that in the entire West Indian Ocean, 75 percent of fishery resources are currently being fished at their maximum biological productivity. The other 25 percent are over-exploited and require better management. The catches are normally dominat-

A F R I C A ed by large and small pelagic and demersal fish species. (See Table-1) Fishers regard this fishery as a “common property natural resources” open to unlimited and unrestricted exploitation. The fish stocks found in a fishery cannot be controlled in the direct and positive way a farmer or rancher controls his domestic stocks. They do not have a single owner. In open fisheries, there is no restriction on the number of fishers who can enter the fishery and the amounts of fish caught — the type of gear used dictates, the space in the canoe or boat, market demands and ability to preserve the fish from going bad. In the WIO fishing activities are mostly unregulated. However, there is inadequate capacity, or effective institutional frameworks, to exercise jurisdiction over the EEZ of most countries and there is a lack of reliable information about the nature, size and potential harvest of living resources. The relationships between the environment and fish abundance are neither understood, nor predictable. There is inadequate information on the potential threats to the environment as a result of fishing activities.[11] Threats Like other marine regions, the Western Indian Ocean is affected by five principal sources of overfishing, pollution, shipping, dumping, seabed activities, and destruction of the habitat. i. Overfishing: As fishing technology has become more advanced over the decades, bigger catches of fish have been harvested, leaving behind hundreds of decimated species that find it difficult to populate their species to healthy levels. In waters that have been over fished, the populations of fish have not bounded back to sustainable levels. Overfishing has progressed from ocean to ocean and has led to drastic problems with the food supply of today. Many nations have recognised this problem and have implemented fisheries programmes to remedy the situation. However, these remedies might have come too late.[12] ii. Oil Spills: The WIO region is vulnerable to the impact of oil spills. The main transportation arteries for oil from the Middle East and the Gulf carrying 470 million tonnes (30 percent of the world’s oil) to Europe and the Americas, traverses the western Indian Ocean region. A further 6.5 million tonnes are shipped into the countries of this region, rendering the coastal areas highly vulnerable to oil spills from the transit shipping and trans-shipments in the harbours. There have been five major oil spills in the last thirty years in the Mozambique Channel involving between 22,000 and 90,000 tonnes of hydrocarbons. Oil spills could be caused by cyclones, impacts against reefs or accidents between vessels. The countries of the WIO region do not have the capability or ability to deal with any potential disaster relating to oil spills.[13] iii. Pollution: Pollution is probably the major source of habitat destruction of species within the oceans. It can destroy and seep into every aspect of the ocean, killing and displacing thousands of species at the same time. Displacing and destroying marine mammal and fish habitats alike, can cause such stress

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to species that they simply cannot carry on the survival or reproduction of their species any longer. The Convention of the Law on the Sea also addresses the conservation of marine mammals. Article 65, Marine Mammals, of the Convention states, “Nothing in this part restricts the right of a coastal State or the competence of an international organisation, as appropriate, to prohibit, limit or regulate the exploitation of marine mammals more strictly than provided for in this Part. States shall co-operate with a view to the conservation of marine mammals and in the case of cetaceans shall in particular work through the appropriate international organisations for their conservation, management and study.” Since this Convention applies to all signatory states, marine mammals are supposedly guaranteed protection and conservation.[14] iv. Unregulated Illegal Fishing: Unregulated and illegal fishing activities in the region are a threat to the balanced survival of the Ocean ecology. This issue is recognised by all countries in the region. The fishery is increasingly tapped by distant fleets with very sophisticated factory-fishing vessels from the Russian Federation, North and South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Yemen, which are modelled for distant-water fishing. They see in the fishery opportunities to offset their decreased landings from their own and other fisheries. Their concern is short-term outlook and a refusal to acknowledge ecological limits is devastating. In recent years, there has been a substantial amount of illegal fishing in the Somali waters. The devastating Somali civil war led to drastic collapse of the fishery activities resulting in massive losses of jobs. After the overthrow of President Said Barre in 1991, the illegal fishing heightened after the disintegration of Somalia into clanbased states. There have been reports of gunfights between Somali fishers and illegal fishing ships. Taking advantage of the absence of surveillance, monitoring, control and patrolling securities, the foreign ships used prohibited and destructive fishing methods like drift nets, dynamites, breaking coral reefs and destroying the coral habitats where lobsters and other coral fish live. Their destructive fishing technique reduce the local population’s harvest and damage nets and traps set by local fishermen. More seriously, there are reports of nuclear and waste dumping in the Somali waters from the industrialised world, similar to that of Cote d’Ivoire, which poses environmental hazards and health dangers to human beings.[15] Monitoring, Control and Surveillance The Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) unit of fisheries management is based on the need to monitor and control fishing activities in order to verify that industrial practices and behaviour are consistent with the regulations established to implement the government’s fishery policy objectives. Regulatory measures have little effect unless they are implemented. However, monitoring, control and surveillance tend

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to be costly activities, and the optimal extent of their use will depend critically on the industry response, i.e. how actual behaviour is modified and the magnitude of resources devoted to evasion. The fisheries policy objectives and the regulatory measures of policy implementation should, therefore, take full cognisance of the costs of the monitoring, control and surveillance necessary to undertake the programme, aiming at maximum objective achievement with a minimum burden of monitoring, control and surveillance. Therefore, the MCS structures have an important role to play as a key contributor to the provision of public education, to develop and maintain a sufficient degree of favourable public attitudes to resource conservation and responsible fishing. If a comprehensive costbenefit analysis does not yield positive conclusions, there may be a case for reconsideration of the corresponding regulations and underlying policy objectives.[16] Vessel Monitoring Systems and their Application Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) are now being introduced worldwide as a means of increasing and improving MCS of fishing vessels in order to combat illegal fishing. In addition to the monitoring value of a VMS, they can also be used for real-time fisheries management, and has direct application as a scientific tool. A VMS uses satellite communications. In the case of a number of African countries, installation of such a system is a prerequisite for the granting of an access right to the fisheries to allow it to develop. Monitoring fisheries is currently under severe stress. Understaffing and use of an increasing number of ports and harbours has resulted in a sharp decline in the reliability of data. Accurate catch data and control of illegal fishing are essential components of resource assessment as well as quota control. Several examples of the value of VMS to the fishery can be given as being: i. Management and control in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and in adjacent international waters, given the spatial extent of the fishery and the exclusion of fishing activity in many areas, requires a tracking system that not only reports on the location and activity of the vessels, but also has a facility to give daily reports on the catches and catch rates. The fishery is potentially large, with both local and foreign vessels operating. ii. Large numbers of foreign vessels (distant water fleets of Japan and Taiwan) operate into and out of these waters. There is currently no method of knowing the movements of these vessels and reported illegal fishing will continue to be unsubstantiated until such time as an effective monitoring system is introduced; and iii. Within each national EEZ there is a strong shift towards alternative fishing techniques, with a view to capacity building and greater utilisation of available resources. To retain control of many of their valuable offshore resources, a viable monitoring system is urgently needed. Also, it is a valuable regional tool for countries sharing stocks and migratory species passing through the waters of both countries. Given the present satellite and communication possibilities available, a VMS system can be cost-effective by applying

a user-pays principle. Ultimately, the advantage is a long-term gain to the country and its people through the improved preservation of living marine resources in the WIO fishery. The major task is to contribute to the protection of the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coastal and marine environments and rich biodiversity from damage due to accidental spills and illegal discharges from ships and from illegal exploitation of marine and coastal resources. Short-term objectives are (a) to increase the safety of navigation by assessing the risks of catastrophic accidents and taking action to pollution, (b) to strengthen capacity of countries for surveillance and enforcement of regulations intended to ensure that fisheries and other coastal and marine resources are managed sustainably; (c) to build capacity in countries to assess and control ship-bases; (d) to strengthen the capacity of countries to cooperate among themselves, with relevant international and regional organisations, and with the shipping and fishing industry in managing their common marine and coastal resources, and (e) to develop financing and institutional mechanisms to sustain capacity of countries to address issues of navigation safety, and to enforce in coordination with other countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; laws and regulations governing the shipping and fishing industries needed to ratify conventions and to translate their provisions into national laws and regulations.[17] Management of Fishery Management of fisheries remains a key issue in the drive for the sustainable use of the fishery. This involves the design and implementation of measures to monitor and control the amount, type and seasonality of the fishing operations and touches on a number of interrelated biological, technical, economic, social and frequently political issues. In all fisheries, governments are trying to improve fisheries management .In this effort they need and are receiving bilateral and multilateral assistance.[18] Management of fisheries is a complex process that does not depend only on the biological resources base. It also depends on the integration of the resource biology and ecology with the socio-economic and institutional factors and considerations, such as the behaviour of the fishers, their consent, adequate enforcement, and the willingness of governments to make decisions that may be politically difficult. Governments need to establish the proper legal and administrative frame works for decisions that limit fishing effort and access.[19] Fishery policies and management have usually focused on a few highly prized fishery stocks. In response to worldwide public concerns about ecosystems, there is an increasing demand for better understanding and monitoring of a wide range of ecosystems, fish species and, processes that affect or are affected by fisheries. Some of the most important management concerns today are: (a) The effects of fisheries habitats, marine communities, and ecological interactions; (b) The effects of land-based activities and climatic changes on fisheries, and (c) The lack of selectivity in many fisheries, resulting in bycatch and discards. Variations in marine ecosystems and fish populations can be due to coastal developments, industrial activities, and periodic climatic phenomena.[20]

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A F R I C A The success of the management (or conservation) measures taken depends on how effectively they can be applied or enforced. This also depends on whether the fishery is shared with one or more countries and by the extent of cooperation existing between the governments involved. The main objective of the management technique that is chosen is to enforce a new pattern in the exploitation of a fishery. This affects the amount of effort that is a function of the size; power and type of vessel used the gear, the spatial distribution of fishing and the number of people involved. Using different combinations will minimise depending on the relative prices of the various input cost of the boat. If, for example, the price of gasoline (petrol) is high, it is likely that the cost-effective input combination will involve fishing longer hours near the shore with a larger crew than fishing long distances from the coast. These aspects of effort oriented production are important because regulation can effect the type of input and the way they are used can obviously have an effect on the efficiency of producing effort and ultimately on the efficiency of the catch. In most fisheries, the management programmes have consisted of regulations restricting the catch. This was done for two reasons: to save the fish stocks from destruction or to protect the economic position of certain groups in the fishery. In each case, the complete economic ramifications were considered. Prohibiting the use of efficient techniques can, at least, in the short run, prevent the destruction of the fishery since the catches are decreased. It can also reduce the earning power of the fishermen. Cooperation in the Management of Fisheries In shared fisheries, the most common problem is how to satisfy local artisanal and foreign consumption, industrial processing to create jobs and exports. In some parts of the world, sharing of a fishery has led to conflicts and even wars. The issue of shared fisheries can be very sensitive. However, where there is a common understanding on the importance of fisheries to all states, a generally agreed working relationship can be established. Managing a shared fishery requires formulating a policy with input from all parties. Some of the key elements included in the policy would be: i. Ownership of the resources; ii. Allocation of fishing rights and access to the resources; iii. Approaches to resource management; iv. Institutional structures for the management of fisheries and resources; v. Funding and finance; vi. Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS); Research, monitoring, surveillance, sensitisation and training; vii. Environmental protection; viii. Coastal Zone management; ix. Surveillance and compliance; x. Facilities in the fishery; and xi. Capacity building: Qualified and competent personnel. The others are also fishers, distributors, Non-Governmental Organisations, representatives of government and multilater-

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al bodies; delicate negotiations between the parties concerned and formal agreements and conventions.[21] Creation of the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC) As a response to unregulated fishing in the WIO fishery, there was discussion among the key players, on the establishment of a regional fisheries management arrangement called the South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC). SWIOFC was established in November 2004 by Resolution 1/127 of the FAO Council and under Article VI (1) of the FAO Constitution as a regional fisheries advisory body for coastal States in the South West Indian Ocean region. The first session of the Commission took place in Mombassa, Kenya in April 2005. The Commission is open to Members and Associate Members of FAO that are coastal States whose territories are situated wholly or partly within the Commission area. The Statutes of the Commission set out a long list of functions and responsibilities, which include (a) to contribute to improved governance through institutional arrangements that encourage cooperation amongst members; (b) help fishery managers in the development and implementation of fishery management systems that take due account of environmental, social and economic concerns; (c) keep under review the state of the fishery resources in the area and the industries based on them; (d) promote, encourage and coordinate research and the collection, exchange, dissemination and analysis of statistical, biological, environmental and socio-economic data and other marine fishery information; (e) provide a sound scientific basis to assist members in taking fisheries management decisions; (f) provide advice on management measures to members. Its role was to contribute to protect the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coastal and marine environments and rich biodiversity from damage due to accidental spills and illegal discharges from ships and from illegal exploitation of marine and coastal resources. Short-term objectives are (a) to increase the safety of navigation by assessing the risks of catastrophic accidents and taking action to counter pollution, (b) to strengthen capacity of countries for surveillance and enforcement of regulations intended to ensure that fisheries and other coastal and marine resources are managed sustainably, (c) to strengthen the capacity of countries to cooperate among themselves, with relevant international and regional organisations, and with the shipping and fishing industry in managing their common marine and coastal resources, and (d) to develop financing and institutional mechanisms to sustain capacity of countries to address issues of navigation safety, and to enforce, in coordination with other countries, laws and regulations governing the shipping and fishing industries, to ratify conventions and to translate their provisions into national laws and regulations, (e) to build capacity in countries to assess and control ship-based governments and competent fisheries organisations; (f) to provide advice and promote co-operation on monitoring, control and surveillance, including joint activities, especially as regards issues of a regional or sub-regional nature, (g) to encourage, recommend and coordinate training, (h) to promote and encourage the utilisation of the most appropriate fishing craft,

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gear, fishing, techniques and post harvesting technologies, and (i) promote liaison with all competent institutions within the area served by the Commission and adjacent waters. The aim of the draft agreement was to establish a legally binding framework to manage the demersal species in the high seas areas of the south Indian Ocean. The objectives of the draft agreement are to ensure the long term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources in this area and to promote sustainable development of fisheries taking into account the needs of developing states bordering the region and party to the agreement. The draft agreement provides mechanisms for the Meeting of Parties to adopt legally binding conservation and management measures to achieve these objectives which contracting parties will be required to implement and enforce. In January 2004, it was agreed that the interests of developing coastal States in cooperation and development in relation to fisheries within EEZ jurisdictions would be progressed separately from interests in the high seas fisheries. A separate high seas agreement would therefore be negotiated. Its mandate covers all living marine resources, without prejudice to the management responsibilities and authority of other competent fisheries and other living marine resources management organisations or arrangements in the area. Its objectives are to: provide scientific information for management; build national capacities in resource management; evaluate current and future regional conservation needs; and foster collaboration between national and regional marine conservation programmes.[22] In carrying out these functions, the Commission has to have due regard for and promote the application of the provisions of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, including the precautionary approach and the ecosystem approach to fisheries management. It is also to work closely with any agreement or arrangement for the management and conservation of the high seas fisheries resources of the Southern Indian Ocean, including holding back-to-back meetings.[23] Objectives and Functions of the Commission Without prejudice to the sovereign rights of coastal States, the Commission shall promote the sustainable utilisation of the living marine resources of the area of the Commission, by the proper management and development of the living marine resources, and address common problems of fisheries management and development faced by the Members of the Commission. To this end, the Commission shall have the following functions and responsibilities which include the contribution to improved governance through institutional arrangements that encourage cooperation amongst members; help fishery managers in the development and implementation of fishery management systems that take due account of environmental, social and economic concerns; keep under review the state of the fishery resources in the area and the industries based on them; promote, encourage and coordinate research related to the living marine resources in the area and draw up programmes required

for this purpose, and to organise such research as may be necessary and the collection, exchange, dissemination and analysis or study of statistical, biological, environmental and socioeconomic data and other marine fishery information; provide a sound scientific basis to assist Members in taking fisheries management decisions; e.g. provide advice on management measures to member governments and competent fisheries organisations and advice and promote co-operation on monitoring, control and surveillance, including joint activities, especially as regards issues of a regional or sub-regional nature; encourage, recommend and coordinate training in the areas of interest of the Commission; and promote and encourage the utilisation of the most appropriate fishing craft, gear, fishing techniques and post harvesting technologies.[24] International cooperation and Multilateral Arrangement Political, Economic, Social and cultural relations between India, the Island States and the East Coast States of Africa have a long fruitful duration. India and these states are â&#x20AC;&#x201D; through bilateral relations â&#x20AC;&#x201D; governed by the Joint Permanent Commissions. They also belong to the regional organisations such as the Non Aligned Movement, Group of 77, Organisation of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organisation of Islamic States, the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional cooperation (IOR-ARC), the African Caribbean and Pacific, and the United Nations. A good number also belong to the Commonwealth of Nations. In all these groups, there are areas of close and fruitful collaboration and cooperation. Within these relationships, there is cooperation among these states in several areas including conventions such as the Law of the Sea, United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, International Marine Organisation and a number of regional agreements in the management of fisheries in the WIO fishery. What is required is to strengthen this relationship to ensure that the fish are conserved and sustained to avoid depletion. The countries in the region need to work together involving governments, NGOs and the citizens in formulating strategies to conserve the fish resources, monitor the catches and wherever possible introduce measures that will protect the fisheries from being degraded. The local populations need fish for food, income and employment; the states need food security, taxes, exports and foreign exchange. These can be assured if good uniform policies are affected across the board in order to conserve fish resources for the good of all countries. I hope that India will lead the way and work closely with the other states in the region to ensure that the fish resources are protected and exploited in a sustainable manner. Many problems remain in the WIO fishery. With the help of India there is a possibility of improving the current situation for the better. The way, in which the states in this fishery region will approach the problems, will provide a key to the management of other fisheries in the world on sustainable levels. â&#x2013;

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Notes and References 1. See V.S. Sheth (ed.), Globalisation and Interdependence: Africa and India (Mumbai, Centre for African Studies,200nd r4); V.S. Sheth (ed.), Indian Ocean Region: Conflict and Cooperation (Mumbai, Centre for African Studies,2004) 2. There is a dense literature on the links between India and East Africa. For a representative sample, see Patrick Manning, “The Problem of Interactions in World History,” American Historical Review (1996), 771-782; Edward Alpers, “Indian Ocean Africa: The Island Factor,” Emergences, 10:2(2000), 37; Edward Alpers, “Recollecting Africa: Diasporic Memory in the Indian Ocean World,” African Studies Review, 43:1(2000), 83; Edwald Alpers, “Trade, Politics, and Identity in the Colonial Indian Ocean,” edited by Edward Alpers in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 19:2 (1999); Janet Ewald, “Crossers of the Sea,” American Historical Review, 105:1(2000), 69. 3. FAO, Report of the FAO/World fish Centre Workshop on Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Assessment of Small Scale Fisheries, Rome, 20-22 September 2005, (Rome, FAO, 2005), 8; FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental Organisation on the Programmes Related to Subsidies in Fisheries, Rome, 23-25 July, 2003, FAO Fisheries Report, Number 719, (Rome, FAO, 2003), 8; FAO, Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries; FAO. The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture; D. Pauly, and V. Christensen, “Primary production required to sustain global fisheries”, Nature, Vol. 374, 1995, pp. 255-257. 4. Johan Groenevel, “Spotlight on the Programme of South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC)”, United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), February 2005. 5. S. Shahanmugandan, “Marine Ecosystem of the Indian Littoral with reference to the Fisheries in relation to Climate Changes and Climate variability; Identification of major dimensions in relation to Population dynamics and Physical Processes (Unpublished Paper). 6. FAO, Report of the FAO/ World fish Centre, 8. 7. FAO, Report of the FAO/ World fish Centre, 8. 8. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 10. 9. Groenevel, “Spotlight on the Programme of South West Indian Ocean Fisheries Commission (SWIOFC); FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 10. 10. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 12; 4. H. Scott Gordon, “Economic Theory of a Common Property Resource: The Fishery” Journal of Political Economy, (JPE), 62, 1 (1954) 124-142; Anthony Scott, “The Fishery: The objectives of Sole

Ownership” JPE 63, 2 (1955) 116-124; W. Clarck, “Towards a Predictable Model for the Economic Regulation of Commercial Fisheries” Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 37, 1111-1129; Robert S. Pomeroy “Common Property Regimes” NAGA 17/2 (1994) 37-38; J.A. Gulland, “Fishery Management and the Needs of Developing Countries” in Brian J. Rothschild (ed) World Fisheries Policy: Multidisciplinary Views (Seattle, University of Washington 1977); J.A Gulland, “Appraisal of a Fishery” in W.E. Ricker (ed.) Methods for Assessments of Fish Production in Freshwaters (Oxford, Blackwell Scientific Publication 1971) 259-276; FAO, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 1996 (Rome, FAO, 1997), 2. 11. 8. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 10. 12. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 10. 13. FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 12. 14. Francis Misser, “EEC Sets its sights on African Fishing Grounds” African Business 142 (June 1990) 55. 15. Musambachime, African Fisheries. 16. FAO, Fishing Operations, Number 1: Vessel Monitoring Systems (Rome, FAO, 1998); Musambachime, African Fisheries. 17. 19. George Rounsefell, Ecology Utilisation and Management of Marine Fisheries (Saint Louis, 1975) 249; Anon, “European Fish Illegally” Southern African Economist 8, 3 (1995) 32-33; Francis Misser, “EEC Sets its sights on African Fishing Grounds” African Business No. 142 (June 1990) 55; Clevide Franqueville, “Protection of Fishery Resources: Experiences of Monitoring and Control of Fishery Activities in the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) EC Fisheries Cooperation Bulletin No. 6 No. 1 (March 1993). FAO, Report of the Third AD HOC Meeting of Intergovernmental, 12. 18. Musambachime, African Fisheries. 19. Pontecorvo, Fisheries conflict (in passim). J.V. Prescott; Anderson, The Economics, 192. 20. Rounsefell, Ecology Utilisation and Management, 249. 21. Marie-Christine Comte “Teetering on the Brink” Ceres, 142 (July-August 1993) 17-21. 22. FAO, Press Release Number SAG/356, New Commission to Focus on Coastal Fisheries: Promoting Responsible Fishing in the West Indian Ocean, dated May 4, 2005. 23. Ibid. 24. I.V. Keri

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Can Africa’s rentier state bail itself out? If Gabon can diversify its oil-dependent economic base, it can grow rapidly says Rashmi Kapoor.

MILES TO GO: Gabon’s real growth lags behind that of other developing countries and is still not good enough to achieve the Millenium Development Goals.

he economic depression of 1930s and the end of the two World Wars ushered in an era of multilateral organisations like UN, IMF and GATT. The success of multilateral organisations gave a big push to the globalisation process. Perestroika (economic liberalisation) and Glasnost (political democratisation), the new mantras of 1990s, became synonymous with the radical and qualitative changes that further strengthened the globalisation process. These changes led to massive shift in the distribution of power leading to the formation of a unipolar world order. The earlier great divide gave way to the integration of world economies and increasing economic interdependence of the countries of the world. Globalisation and globalism challenged the old patterns and the institutions and made them inadequate and sometimes even redundant to the contemporary needs. Ample economic opportunities, healthy economic growth, higher than expected incomes and marked improvements in labour and environmental standards became the defining features of the new economic globalisation. Africa could not remain immune to these radical develop-

ments. Whether willingly or by imposition, Africa was initiated into the modern global economy. This is not to imply that globalisation is new to Africa. African countries had always sought to globalise and regionalise but what is new to Africa is the neo-liberal conception of globalisation (Nnadozie: 2000). Neo-liberal economics that has taken the form of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) appear to construct Africa’s perestroika (Kiiza: 2000). The SAPs are macro level reform policies designed to reduce the role of the state vis-àvis the private sector in the economy (ibid). All the African countries were indirectly forced to implement these policies, as it became a condition for accessing loans and grants from the IMF and the World Bank. Neo-liberalism definitely succeeds in mobilising resources in the short run and delivering economic recovery. But one must not ignore the nascent character of the private sector in Africa, the existence of huge nonmarket sector and the other concrete socio-historical realities may lower the efficacy of the SAPs and leave the countries of Africa in a sticky situation (ibid). For Africa to come out of the quagmire of poor economic performance, debilitated capacity, poor governance and inappropriate infrastructure on the one hand, unrestrained global

November 2007-January 2008

A F R I C A integration and global economic marginalisation on the other, it is essential for African continent to unite. Continental rebirth must be such that the economies of the State are fully integrated and every state expends maximum effort towards a collectivism of integrated economies (Oguntade: 2003). It is to involve diversifying manufacturing activities and develop wider regional and continental markets and resurgent African economy where financial decisions reside in the arena of democratic politics and public policy (rather than) in the hands of unaccountable private tyrannies (Chomsky: 1997). Economic Performance Of Africa

Q U A R T E R L Y

Energy security indicates our dependence on fossil fuel, which is environmentally unsustainable and technologically anachronistic. Many African countries have been fortunate to have large reserves of oil and many more fields are being discovered. The major oil producers in Africa are Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Cote dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria. According to the IMF, the average current-account surplus of oil-producers increased by more than threefold to 7.7 per cent of combined GDP of above countries (Moin:2006). At the same time, African oil and gas producing countries have become extremely dependent on the revenues generated by oil and gas. The extraordinary surge in crude prices has brought in massive rents to the oil producers. Oil windfall has whetted their appetite for more rents and has created a dependence on a volatile source of income. These oil windfalls are not being adequately used for sustainable, diversified economy but for the pursuit of short term political objectives (Said: 2007). Hence most developing resource rich countries seem to have lagged behind other less endowed countries in a range of developmental and governance indicators. Many mineral oil industries in its traditional forms lack integration with the other sectors of the national economy and made only a small contribution to the advance of the oil producing countries (Schliephake:1977).

Years of painful reforms and fiscal adjustments have boosted African economy onto a new higher growth trend (Moin: 2006). By 1996, economic growth of Africa was on an average 2.2 per cent, well below its population growth (ibid P.1). But between 1997 and 2006 it is likely to exceed four per cent. There are conclusive indications of gains in real per capita GDP after several years of poor performance. New oil production facilities, intra-regional trade, a growing world economy, strong commodity prices, along with recent international initiatives on debt relief and official development aid has underpinned the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prospects for growth. Regional economic activity has also been aided by generally growth oriented monetary and fiscal policies in the majority of the African Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memberstates, increased levels of foreign resources, soaring crude oil Africa and Gabon exports, strong tourism receipts as well as higher agricultural production in some of the regions. Most African countries are Gabon is one country of Africa which although rich in per expanding briskly due to market-based reforms, including pri- capita terms due to large oil revenues, is highly indebted and has vatisation, deregulation and trade liberalisation, there by rais- had persistent difficulty in maintaining debt service. The periing productivity growth, lesser dependency on imports and od from 2002-05 has been exceptionally difficult one due to improving external competitiveness (ibid P.1). contraction in oil output resulting in lower oil revenues. Gabon To continue to achieve robust and sustained economic has initiated a comprehensive economic recovery strategy to growth and to be an effective member in global economic improve international competitiveness and revive growth. It development, Africa has to expand its energy access and also undertook fiscal consolidation, improvements in governance its oil and gas wealth sustainability. The growing interdepen- and has implemented a comprehensive poverty reduction stratdence of energy, economy and politics has posed a serious egy. Still the reforms have not yet generated the desired results. challenge for any economy but more so for oil and gas export- Gabon is located on the West Coast of Central Africa. Its total ing countries like Nigeria and Gabon (Said: 2007). The ener- area is about 2,68,000 sq km, and about 2,20,000 sq km or 80 gy security has moved to the top of the agenda of global ener- percent of the territory is covered by virgin forest (Sizer & gy. Energy security has essentially been the oil Figure 1: Average Annual % Growth in GDP security since the oil shock of the mid-1970s. in Gabon and SSA

Table 1: Average Annual Growth Rate in GDP in Gabon and Sub-Saharan Africa

1970-1980

9.0

3.4

1980-1990

0.5

1.8

1991-2000

-0.10

2.0

2004

1.4

4.6

" 9

% GDP Growth

Average Annual Growth In GDP (%) Years Gabon Sub-Saharan Africa

10 ! "

6 4

! 4.6 ! 3.4

-2

1.8

" 0.5

(Compiled from Data of Africa at a Glance 1995/96, 2005)

SSA GABON

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! 2

" 1.4

" -0.1

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Plouvier: 2000). Gabon’s population of 1.2 milFigure 2: Real GDP Growth Rate (%) lion is mainly urban (73 percent) and almost one-third of the people live in the capital, Real GDP growth rate ( percent) Libreville (National Implementation of Agenda8 21). Gabon gained its independence from 6 5.7 France in 1960. Two-thirds of the country’s 4 3 population lives below the poverty line, in both 2.5 3.5 1.4 2.1 urban and rural areas. Since 75 percent of the 2 0.21 people living in towns or cities, underdevelop0 ment is most acute in the countryside. The rural -2 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 exodus has left the interior virtually abandoned. -0.3 There is a lack of basic infrastructure such as -1.9 -4 access to drinking water, health services, road -6 and railway network, primary and secondary -8 education. Gabon has considerable mineral reserves -10 -9.6 especially manganese and gold. Gabon has sufficient rainfall and a fertile soil well suited to -12 Years agriculture. It also has an abundant fish stocks and river resources. However, Gabon’s greatest asset is oil. The deposits are found in offshore fields, and at rate fell drastically. At the same time, Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth onshore production sites in coastal areas (Cornelis: 1997). It has rate improved. In 2004, Gabon registered 1.4 percent growth but an impressive telecommunications system and banking sector it was still way behind SSA. (Figure 1). and enjoys considerable political stability. Gabon experienced a deep economic recession in 1998-99 Real Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate Of Gabon as a result of falling petroleum prices and negative impact of the Asian economic crisis on Table 3: GDP of Gabon by sectors (percent) timber exports. Further deterioration of the 1960 1985 1995 2004 2005 economy took place by the suspension of loans Years from the Agense Francaise de Development and since March 1999 Gabon had no IMF programme. With the decline in petroleum prices in 2001, foreign debt arrears continued to accrue. Gabon’s overall economic performance has been lower than average growth of Africa. Gabon had a per capita income four times that of most nations of the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The African state had registered a GDP growth rate of nine percent during the 1970-80 but the Asian economic crisis of 1980-2000 had a deep impact on the Gabonese economy. Its growth

Agriculture

6.8

8.0

8.1

7.7

Industry

66.5

52.4

60.7

57.6

Manufacturing NA

7.2

5.0

4.8

4.5

Service

26.7

39.6

31.3

34.8

Table 2 : Real GDP Growth Rates of Gabon

Source: World Development Report, 1980 and Gabon at a glance: gab_aag. pdf: 2006

Figure 3: GDP of Gabon by Sectors (Percent) ! Agriculture ! Industry ! Manufacturing ! Servicing

60.7

3.5

1999

-8.9

2000

-1.9

2001

2.1

2002

-0.3

2003

2.5

2004

1.4

2005

3.0

2006 E

2.1

57.6

52.4

Real GDP Growth Rates

1998

66.5

60 50

GDP (x)

Years

39.6

40 35 34

34.8 31.3

26.7

20 10

6.8 7.2

8.1 4.8

7.7 4.5

0 1980

1985

1995

Years

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2004

2005

A F R I C A

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US$ Millions

The GDP growth rate of Gabon during 1997 was as high (African Economic Outlook: 2005). as 5.7 percent, which contracted to 3.5 percent in 1998. Serious economic crisis after a bad trade year in 1998, the 1999 eco- Oil Sector of The Economy nomic recession, and substantial budgetary indiscipline contracted GDP by -8.9 percent (Table 2). Gabon’s potential for economic growth is based on its conThe economy improved partially in 2000 due to increase in siderable natural resources. Traditionally mining was the most timber exports and higher oil prices but Table 4: GDP of Oil and Non-Oil Sector, 1997-2001 not enough to turn positive (-1.9 per(1991 US $ million) cent). Renewed investment led to a marginal recovery in 2001and then Sectors 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002* again the economy contracted by 0.3 Oil GDP 2.181 2,107 1,874 1,687 1,610 1,572 percent in 2002 because of lowering of both oil prices and production levels Non(Figure 2). Higher than expected rise in Oil GDP 4,312 4,612 4,202 4,271 4,468 7,795 oil GDP in 2003 made up for lower *Estimated; Source: African Commission of Africa than anticipated growth of the non-oil GDP. So after years of decline GDP Figure 4: GDP by sectors, 1997-2002 (US$ million) growth rate recovered and reached 2.5 GDP by sectors 1997-2002 (US$ million) percent in 2003 and then fell marginally to 1.4 percent in 2004. Due to robust 9000 oil prices and pickup in public invest8000 ! OIL GDP ! ment GDP growth rate increased to 7795 ! NON-OIL GDP 7000 around 3 percent in 2005. After several years of lower growth rate, the real per 6000 capita GDP saw an upswing. The over5000 all annual GDP growth rate is 1.6 per! 4312 ! 4612 ! 4202 ! 4271 ! 4468 4000 cent, which is still less than the annual 3000 population growth rate of 1.9 percent " 2181 for the period 2002-2005. " 2107 2000 " 1874 " 1687 " 1610 " After the discovery of oil in the late 1000 1572 1950s, agriculture was neglected. The 0 performance of farming was quite well 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 in the 1960s. Agriculture was conYears tributing about 35 percent of GDP in 1960, which reduced drastically to 6.8 percent by 1985. Since then its GDP growth rate has remained important sector of economy as it provided for the principal fairly stagnant. Even after implementing the structural reform source of incoming foreign currency to the state. With the programme to promote agriculture, the agricultural GDP has beginning of production of oil in 1960s and first oil boom in remained as low as 8.0 percent and 7.7 percent in 1995 and 1970s, oil replaced forestry, manganese and uranium as a key 2005 respectively (Table 3). During the same time, industri- revenue earner and became an engine of growth for the State. al sector GDP contribution to the economy increased sub- Now Gabon is the third largest producer and exporter of crude stantially from 34 percent in 1960 to as high as 66.5 percent in oil in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Gabonese economy is largely 1985, then fell to 52.4 percent in 1995 and regained slightly to dependent on revenues generated by the ‘black gold’. Since the 57.6 percent in 2005. Service sector GDP increased marginal- late 1960s, revenues from petroleum have brought the govly from 31 percent in 1960 to 34.8 percent in 2005 (Figure 3). ernment of Gabon unprecedented income (Cornelis: 1997). The manufacturing sector never picked up in Gabon, it has National budgets multiplied 15 times between the late 1960s and late ‘70s (Encyclopedia Britannica). remained quite dormant for a long time. During the seventies oil’s exponential growth slowed down. Unfavourable business environment, weak and inefficient infrastructure, huge and growing external debt, at more than After a decline in oil prices in 1986 and then in 1988, the oil 100 percent GDP led to poor growth performance (Economic trade improved. By 1991, its demand and production saw an Report on Africa: 2003). Soaring oil prices and higher than upward trend but in terms of net growth it was too little. The expected oil production improved and invigorated the debil- vulnerability of the Gabonese economy to external factors itating economy of Gabon. At the same time the key structural such as the fluctuations in price of oil and changing global reforms began to take effect and the fiscal situation improved demands; dependence on foreign companies and the Asian following the government’s efforts to reduce the debt and economic crisis, plunged Gabon into the economic crisis in arrears, both domestic and external. This boosted private 1998. The Asian economic crisis in 1997-98 led to large layinvestment in services, agriculture and wood processing offs in Gabon.

November 2007-January 2008

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Agricultural GDI

Oil GDP has been contracting consistently as its produc- so state revenues may not bring about an improvement in the tion is estimated to be on a long-term decline. It has shrunk structure of the economy or its organic growth (Schliephake from $ 2,181 million in 1997 to $1,572 million in 2002 (Table 1977:10). Large oil revenues in Gabon have been unable to fos4). At the same time non-oil GDP showed erratic perfor- ter sustained economic growth and development. In 2000/01, mance. It increased to 4,612 $ millions in 1998 and then con- oil contributed 66 percent of government revenues, 78 pertracted slightly to $ 4.202 million in 1999. From then on it has cent of export earnings, and 41 percent of GDP. But in direct continuously increased. (Figure 4). employment, it lags behind agriculture and forestry, which Oil continues to be an engine of economic growth since the provide more than 70 percent of primary sector employment. first big boom in the early 1970s. Due to ‘international char- Oil has remained largely an enclave, with little impact on the acter of oil’ international enterprises exclusively managed the non-oil sector except through oil taxes, equivalent to a foreign oil industry and hence its extreme dependence on external fac- transfer (IMF 2002) (Economic Report on Africa:2003). Thus tors (Mc Nee 1958: 325). The other unique feature of the oil large oil revenues and predominance of oil in the economy has industry is that oil is more often found in places where it is made Gabonese economy vulnerable to external factors. It has not needed, therefore the market for it is worldwide remained largely an enclave and has not yet been able to inte(Schliephake 1977:7). Its management has always been gov- grate petroleum sector to the other sectors of the economy. As erned by the international enterprises that have always been a consequence it has not been able to foster organic economic “technologically, pragmatically and internationally oriented”. growth and development. On a positive note soaring oil prices These have brought about a massive transformation of tradi- have delayed economic stagnation and prevented deep economic tional economic and social structures of Gabon. Thus vul- crisis. Hence it has provided Gabonese government a safety valve nerability of oil industry to external factors such as fluctuations for its limited economic base. in oil prices in the world market and changing world demands Table 5: Average Annual Growth Rate kept Gabonese government preoccupied with this concern in Agricultural by Sectors (Percent) 1990s. This changed in 1997 when production started to Sector Of The decline, from 18.5 million ton in 1997 to an estimated 13 mil- Economy Years 1985-95 1995-2005 lion ton in 2001 (Economic Report on Africa:2003). The govAgriculture -1.1 3.3 ernment undertook a massive restructuring to diversify the The agri3.3 2.1 economy by promoting the non-oil sector. cultural sec- Industry The decline in oil revenues is having ripple effects through- tor of Gabon Manufacturing -1.8 NA out the economy. Gabon is not ready for a diminishing oil sec- comprises of Services 2.9 0.1 tor as the countries financing needs are set to be high in the subsistence future as well. Given the heavy dependence on oil tax revenue, farming and Imports of the decline has caused major cuts in investment in physical and state owned goods and -3.8 1.5 social infrastructure. Despite 30 years of big oil revenues, the enterprises. A services social and physical infrastructure is still in need of significant quarter of the Source: Gabon at a glance: gab_aag. pdf: 2006 improvement (Afrol News: 2006). The Figure 5: Labour Force Participation In Agriculture (Percent) situation has been aggravated by the high indebtedness and accumulated arrear repayments. The drop in oil pro- Labour Force Participation Agriculture and Agricultural duction has reduced rent inflows, and GPD ASA% of total GDP hence forced the government to resort ! Labour Force Participation ! Agricultural GDP to fiscal cutbacks. 90 The countries that are heavily depen85 dent on the oil earnings experience 80 74 70.79 unequal distribution of oil wealth. In 67.07 70 fact, the revenues from the sale of the 60 60 oil are not net revenues. Some of its value is lost as a result of the continu50 ous dollar and pound devaluation 40 38 (Schliephake 1977:11). Then a large chunk of the profits are generally 30 invested outside and little is left for 20 regional development programmes. 8.1 8 6.8 5 10 Thus the integration of the petroleum sector with the other sectors of national economy is not seen. There is no ‘mechanical’ relationship between state revenue and regional development and

0 1961

1982

1986

Years

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1991

2001

A F R I C A

Q U A R T E R L Y

Gabon than in other countries of the region (ibid). Better educational and employment opportunities in the towns and cities has favored urbanisation. Years 1961 1982 1986 1991 2001 Despite government efforts during the Labour Force% 85.00 74.00 70.79 67.06 60.00 1970s to promote development that would discourage the rural exodus and raise foodAgricultural stuffs for urban markets. By 1980 Gabon GDP as a % of was producing food to satisfy only 10 to 15 total GDP 35.00 6.8 5.0 8.0 8.1 percent of its needs (Encyclopedia Britannica). Although agriculture employs FAO: Country Tables, Basic Data on Agriculture: 1987, African Statistical Year Book about two-thirds of the population, still it makes a small contribution to the econoTable 7: Total Agricutural Land my of the country as a whole (ibid). If average annual growth rate is observed, Region Gabon Sub-Saharan World it can be seen that agricultural growth rate Total cross land (000 ha) which was negative during the decade from 1999 495 173,572 1,501,452 1985-1995 got a big boost during the period 1995-2005. It rose to 3.3 percent due to Hectare of Crop land per government’s drastic measures to diversify thousand population (1999) 413 274 251 the food production and to diversify agriArea under Cultivation (%) 1.8 7.1 11.3 culture as well (Table5). During the same Source: Earth Trends: 2003 period the industrial and service sector growth rate slipped marginally. country’s population living in the rural areas engages in lowLabour force participation in agriculture in all the developyield subsistence farming (Trade Policy Review Body: Gabon :2001). State-owned enterprises include value-added agribusi- ing countries has always been disproportionately large. Gabon ness like manufacturing of vegetable oils, soap, mineral water, has been no exception. At the time of gaining independence, livestock rearing, poultry, fruit and vegetables. Despite being Gabon had a large percent of labour force engaged in agriculheavily protected on the domestic market, most of these enter- ture (85 percent). The contribution of agriculture to the GDP was also as high as 35 percent of the total GDP (Table 6). In the prises are not profitable (ibid). Agriculture was confined primarily to subsistence farming following decades, the decrease in the labour force participation until World War II (1939-45), with the cultivation of such in agriculture was very gradual. It decreased by 29.4 percent durcrops as manioc, bananas, corn, rice, taro, and yams ing the period of 1961-2001. In 1961, 85 percent of the labour (Encyclopedia of Nations: Africa: Gabon). The government has force was employed in the agriculture. The number dipped to made an intensive effort to diversify and increase agricultural 60 percent in 2001. But the GDP contribution of agriculture for production since independence. Experimental stations and the same period decreased drastically by a huge 77 percent, demonstration farms have been set up, and cooperatives have from 35 percent in 1961 to mere 8.1 percent in 2001 (Figure 5). Since independence, the dominant position of the been established by consolidating rural communities (ibid). Before the first oil boom, Gabon produced significant petroleum sector has greatly reduced the role of agriculture amounts of food and cash crops, such as cocoa and coffee. and limited the amount of area brought under cultivation. However, due to the promotion of the oil sector, agriculture Only 1.8 percent of the total land area is estimated to be under received low priority until the 1976-81 development plans cultivation where as it is 7.1 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa and and the neglect stagnated it (ibid). Gabon became the ‘African a high of 11.3 percent of the average world level. Due to lessEmirate’ and the country depended on imported food from er density of population, area of cropland per 1000 population Europe and from other African countries (Gever, et al: 1991). is 413 hectares for Gabon, 274 hectares for Sub-Saharan Africa In Gabon, agriculture has remained very much in the eco- and only 251 hectares for the rest of the world (Table 7). nomic periphery for a long time. It has never quite succeed- Despite large availability of arable land and adequate rainfall, ed in ensuring food self-sufficiency. Gabon, therefore, has to Gabon has no agricultural tradition. It contributes only about import lot of food from neighboring countries, although its 8 percent of the GDP on the average. Gabon relies heavily on own soil is perfectly suited for cultivation. Livestock rearing other African states and Europe for much of its food and other has never been successful and the country is a major importer agricultural needs. In 2001, agricultural imports by Gabon of meat from Europe and South Africa. Over the years, farm- accounted for nearly 18 percent of all imports. To reduce this ers’ incomes have been extremely depressed, a situation which dependence, it is aiming to increase agricultural production by is partially due to inadequate infrastructures (Cornelis :1997). 45 per cent by 2015. The area reserved for peri-urban agriThis hinders the transport of produce. Farmers probably also culture has been expanded and it now enjoys a range of suplack the relevant know-how, especially in production and mar- port measures. The dismal performance of agriculture after the keting methods. Production costs are considerably higher in discovery of oil may be attributed to the Dutch disease that

Table 6: Labour Force Participation in Agriculture (Percent)

November 2007-January 2008

R O A D M A P

F O R

G A B O N

came with oil. Three decades of oil proTable 8: Primary Sector GDP 1997-2002 (US$ million) duction and large oil rents has made the Gabonese economy dependent on this Sectors 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002* natural resource and neglect other sectors Agriculture 351 367 372 382 302 402 of the economy. Oil tax revenues constiTimber Industry 129 118 139 150 143 143 tute nearly 60 percent of the Gabonese government’s total fiscal revenue and Crude Oil 2000 1000 1721 1505 1424 1300 make up close to 80 percent of total exports Mining 122 153 143 134 127 125 exports (CFIE: 1998). Revenues from large oil exports led to distortions in the *Estimated; Source: African Commission of Africa economy, resulting in contraction of the non-oil tradable sector as relative prices shifted in favor of the tural research and training and train farmers in cash crop pronon-tradable sector. With the non-tradable sector expanding, duction (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Thus in Gabon, traditional sectors, particularly agriculture, stagnated because oil prosperity pushed agriculture to the periphery. Its neglect they had become unattractive for investment (Economic has led to stagnated production, urbanisation and extreme Commission for Africa: 2003). These sectors were widely dependency on food imports. Agriculture became less comexposed to foreign competition and they lost, price competi- petitive and so less attractive to the investors. On the other tiveness and market shares (Wunder: 2004). This led to a large hand oil revenues have failed to generate significant income influx of workers — especially youths — to urban areas, growth or reduction in poverty. But the fact remains that the swelling the urban population and unemployment. The struc- rapidly growing population is not sustainable without large oil tural weaknesses in the economy of Gabon have been caused revenues. At the same time agriculture should be promoted by the long dependence on the oil revenues. This is evident as the key sector of economy for its food security. in the over-expanded government, the weak industrial tissue Forestry Sector of Economy and the high degree of urbanisation (Afrol News: 2007). It is imperative for food security in Gabon that agriculture For many years Gabon’s forests covers about 80 percent of should be a key sector of the economy and a main component of growth and development efforts. While agriculture-led its territory with virgin tropical forest. These were the coungrowth has played an important role in lowering poverty lev- try’s principal natural resource. Newly discovered and exploitels and transforming the economies of many Asian and Latin ed mineral wealth had by the early 1970s forced raw wood and American countries, the strategy has not yet worked in Africa. forest products into second place in the economy. By the early For agriculture provides a powerful leverage effects on the rest 1980s, wood accounted for less than 10 percent of Gabon’s of the economy when its contribution is large in the national exports (Encyclopedia Britannica). The principal forest districts income, employment, and exports (Diao: 2007). But the coun- have been at Kango, Booué, Fougamou, Ndjolé, Mitzic, and tries with large oil earnings have alternative sources of growth. Mouila. The forest resources near the coast and along the At the same time agricultural growth is a precondition for rivers have been largely depleted. Exploitation of the forests industrialisation because the sector provides surplus labour, of the interior began in the late 1970s with the construction savings for capital investment, and food to sustain a growing of the first section of the Transgabon Railroad. The forestry nonagricultural labour force (ibid). Also, agriculture decreas- sector is the second source of foreign exchange after oil. The es country’s dependence on costly imported food and so Gabonese government and international donors regard the remains important for most low-income African countries. It exploitation of timber as central to macro-economic developtends to benefit the poor more than growth in other sectors. ment. This policy is causing a rapid increase in logging. Forestry in Gabon has large potential, which has remained The government wants to diversify by exporting crops such as coffee, cocoa, rubber, palm oil and sugar, as a way of prepar- untapped. According to World Bank estimates, 1.7 jobs are ing for the effect of shrinking oil resources and to persuade required per year to exploit 1,000 cubic meters of timber and people to stay in rural areas. But a short-term obstacle is the an additional two jobs per year for processing (Economic Report general disorganisation of agro-industry after the state’s with- on Africa: 2003). This potentially makes forestry a leading source drawal from it, with palm oil and rubber production com- of employment. To realise the potential, the government is pletely halted. Agricultural growth is also badly impeded by enacting legislation to encourage local processing and is also the poor communications network, low world prices and lack emphasising sustainable exploitation. After Cameroon, Gabon is Africa’s second largest timber of support structures. To increase domestic food production and reverse depen- producer and the world’s largest supplier of Okoumé logs. dence on imports, the government prepared a rural develop- There are sixty wood species exploited in Gabon, but Okoumé ment programme to increase food production and reduce and, to a lesser extent, Ozigo represent the bulk of production imports, improve the production of cash crops, renew the — together they account for up to 80 percent of total timber rural population with young settlers, diversify agricultural pro- production in the country (WWF, Belgium: 1997; CFIE: duction to increase sources of income, improve production 1998). Estimates show that Gabon’s reserves of Okoumé and marketing strategies, reorganise and strengthen agricul- amount to 100 million cubic metres — about three-quarters

November 2007-January 2008

A F R I C A

Table 9: Trade Balance 1996-2004 (Percent of GDP) Years

1996

2001

2002

2003

2004

Exports of Goods (fob)

56.0

55.5

52.6

53.5

57.2

Imports of Goods (fob)

-17.0

-18.0

-19.3

-17.9

-17.6

Trade Balance

39.0

37.5

33.2

35.6

39.6

Table 10: Total Trade Of Gabon (1986-2006), US $ million Trade US$ Million

1986

1996

2005

2006

Total Exports

1,074

3,192

5,666

6,054

Oil

706

2,610

4,719

4,977

Timber

138

383

409

510

Total Imports

1,045

1,175

1,650

1,878

Figure 6: Total Trade of Gabon (1986-2006), US$ million Total Exports and Imports of Gabon

! EXPORTS ! IMPORTS

7000

US$ Millions

6054

5666

6000 5000 4000

3192

3000 2000

1074 1045

1878

1650

1175

1000 0 1986

1996

2005

2006

Years Figure 7: Export of Oil and Timber (1986-2006), US $ million Export of Oil & Timber (1986-2006) US$ million

! OIL ! TIMBER

6054

5666

6000

US$ Millions

of world reserves (ibid). Okoumé species of timber dominated with about 70 percent of the total exports in 1997 (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Most timber is exported unprocessed. Logging is done by the private sector and the government. Société National des Bois du Gabon (SNBG) has monopoly export rights for okoumé with 51 percent ownership. In 2001, the government allowed partial liberalisation of okoumé and ozigo types of wood. Private operators were permitted to export up to half of their production. Large forest stock of Gabon is due to its low population density. In spite of population growth of around 3 percent, forest cover has probably risen, though slightly over the last three decades. The trend over time is closely linked to oil due to lesser dependency on forest produce and more on oil revenues. Gabon’s period of high oil revenues coincided widely with a significant national forestarea expansion on abandoned agricultural soils. Forestry has always remained among the top sectors in the economy, in recent years its contribution is about 3.8 percent of non-oil GDP, 12 percent of exports, and 8 percent of employment (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Between 1998 and 2000 the primary timber industry grew 21 percent in real terms, and after declining by 4.6 percent in 2001 to 143 US $ million, it remained stable during 2002 (Table 8). It is mainly due to strong world prices of timber and economic reforms, which encouraged incentives for private participation in timber industry. Gabon’s high dependency in timber industry on foreign companies and the export of natural resources makes it vulnerable to both, global economic fluctuations and internal factors. Gabon’s main timber importers — Asian countries — are very price sensitive, and they can easily substitute cheaper, low quality products for high quality Gabonese wood. During the Asian economic crisis, Gabon saw a dramatic 43 percent decline in exports and hence layoffs in forestry (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Prior to the crisis, the number of people employed by the forestry sector had been rising from 2,750 in 1992 to 6,000 in 1997

Q U A R T E R L Y

4977

4719

5000 4000

2610

3000 2000 1000

706

510

409

383

138

0 1986

1996

2005

2006

Years

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R O A D M A P

F O R

G A B O N

(Daily Mail: 1999). According to SNBG, the reduced quotas led to a 65 percent reduction in work. Then there was a stiff competition from neighboring countries, particularly Equatorial Guinea. The crisis and the reduction in the workforce led to the abandonment of the logging villages, presumably increasing pressures in the cities. Although exports rebounded strongly in 1999 and 2000, they declined by 15 percent in 2001, due mainly to lower world demand (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). A thorough reorganisation of the national timber company SNBG was undertaken. New forestry regulations were announced to make the industry more efficient and encourage mechanisation. From August 2001, the sector was partly privatised and the producers no longer had to go through the SNBG to sell their timber abroad. They were allowed to export a quota of unprocessed logs, though not more than the volume of processed timber they sold (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). Forestry offers great opportunities for diversification as Gabon grapples with the realities of dwindling oil reserves. If managed well, forestry can increase export earnings and employment and thus benefit the majority of the population. Most timber is exported unprocessed, resulting in very low valued added. Processed wood may fetch higher revenues. External Trade Abundant natural resources and more purchasing power make Gabon a major exporter and importer in Africa. Its external trade has always been in structural surplus and is dominated by oil. Its major exports are oil (80 per cent of exports in 2003), timber (11 per cent) and manganese (5 per cent) and bigger chunk goes to the United States (African Economic Outlook: 2004/5). Imports, on the other hand, show much greater product diversity. Gabon mostly imports food products, chemicals, medicines and transport equipment owing to its relatively high per capita income. Most imports are from France and other European countries. Gabonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trade surplus fell sharply in 1998 due to unfavorable international conditions, increased public spending, a substantial drop in exports and a sizeable increase in imports. In 2000, better oil prices produced a record trade surplus. Resumption of private investment, which had been strongly discouraged by budgetary problems and the Asian economic crisis, and the revival of household spending increased imports from OECD countries. However, the sharp rise in the value of oil exports made up for the deficit. The trend continued from 2001-2004 (Table 9). The trade surplus has increased in 2004 due to the increase in the value of exports, resulting from a 25 percent increase in oil sales and timber sales were also up 10 percent over 2003 (African Economic Outlook: 2004-05). At the same time the general price increase of all imported products, pushed up the value of imports as well. Between 2001 and 2005, the value of oil exports doubled as world prices soared, while imports increased by only 55 per cent. As a result, the trade balance has risen significantly since 2004. Both, exports and imports of all products consistently

increased during the period from 1986-2006. Exports increased from 1,074 US $ million in 1986 to a very high of 6,054 US$ million in 2006(Figure 6). There was a robust increase of 463 percent. In contrast, imports increased more slowly than exports during the period 986-2006, from 1,045 US$ million in 1986 to only 1,878 US$ million. Imports increased by 79 percent only. Gabon, therefore, recorded a current account surplus for 1999 and 2000. Renewed exports of forestry products have also been noteworthy in terms of volume and international market prices. Export of timber has been consistently rising since 1986. in 1986, 138 US$ millions worth of timber was exported where as in 2006 it rose to 510 US$ million (Table 10). In case of oil the growth of export was exponential. It rose from 706 US $ million in 1986 to a high of 4,977 US $ million (Figure 7). There was an increase of 604 percent of oil exports and 269 percent of timber exports. Trading partners of Gabon are also changing with the changing times. In 1990s Asian countries, mainly China, Indonesia, South Korea, were primary importers of timber. But after the Asian economic crisis in 1998, export with Asian countries dropped. On the other hand, the trade with the European countries strengthened. Before 1990s France was the single largest importer of wood from Gabon. In 1992, 62 percent of Gabonese logs exports went to Europe and only 12 percent went to Asia (WWF Belgium: 1997). But in 1995, the trend reversed, more than 40 percent of total exports went to Asia (Report of Forest Monitor). Mining Sector of The Economy Gabon is one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second largest producer of manganese after South Africa. A large-scale production of manganese is taking place at Moanda mine that is managed by Compagnie Miniere de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ogooue (Comilog), the French subsidiary of Eramet Group. Production at Moanda expanded in December 1986 as Franceville was linked by railroad. This rail link also facilitated improved ore handling facilities at the deepwater port of Owendo in 1988. Many foreign companies (French, Brazilian and Chinese) are presently mining manganese in Gabon. The construction of the rail terminus at Owendo improved the exploitation and processing of uranium produced near Moanda that began as early as 1961. This uranium was supplied predominantly to the French Atomic Energy Commission and was mined by Comuf, through Comilog. Mining started to decline after 1999 and deposits got exhausted. Finally the Mounana uranium mines were closed. Gabon is also rich in iron, gold and diamonds. Inadequate transport facilities were limiting the exploitation of iron ore discovered at Mekambo in 1950s. The potential for future development is high with unexploited reserves of excellent quality iron ore. Chinese investors have shown interest in mining iron at Belinga, where ore is rich and deposits plentiful (Africa Economic Outlook 2004-05: 247). It is a high priority sector for the government. The Moanda iron alloy plant, which was opened in January 2001, is among the many initiatives the government has lined up for this top sector. Gold is another key development sector. Gold mining in Gabon

November 2007-January 2008

A F R I C A

Q U A R T E R L Y

cent respectively. Industrial growth has been dampened by lackadaisical approach of the state to market vegetable oil, soap, coffee, and sugar. All these Industry 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 02* products are enjoying monopolies for marketAgro-Food 138 159 151 149 155 163 ing imported products. They have delayed the process of privatisation. These enterprises have Timber 22 40 52 39 52 54 become complacent and do not perceive the Others 218 234 216 231 235 247 need to improve the competitiveness of the Total 378 433 418 418 442 464 goods and services. Tariff and non-tariff protection has been provided to agribusinesses but *Esitmated; Source: African Commission of Africa it was not good enough to keep a tab on the rising prices for consumer goods. In order to diverstarted in 1937. The discovery of large deposits in Ndangui was a big boost for the government. Production, however, has sify, the government implemented a comprehensive proseen a rapid decline but the government has started encour- gramme of privatisation and liberalisation. Also legislation for aging private participation in this sector to boost its mining. the duty-free zone of Port-Gentil was enacted in October 2002. Gabon also produces diamonds, niobium, titanium and phosphate. To encourage private participation, mining is been reg- Gabon's Economic Reforms ulated by a new mining code. The oil sector could not reduce poverty, as it could not Mining output decreased by 17 percent between 19982002. In 1998, mining GDP was $153 million that reduced to integrate with the other sectors of economy. Neither could it $127 million in 2001 and remained flat in 2002 (Table 8). promote employment nor economic activity of the general Though significant for export earnings, its contribution to population in Gabon. The non-oil sector clearly is Gabon’s GDP is still low at 2.7 percent of non-oil GDP in 2001. The future. The bulk of non-oil economy consists of forestry and main obstacles to further exploitation of mineral wealth are services; mainly commerce, transportation, tourism and inadequate infrastructure and unfavorable mining, labour, and telecommunications. Services have driven growth besides investment codes. Legislation was passed recently to provide forestry and other industries in the recent years. The government has implemented massive structural reforms on a wide tax and other incentives to foreign companies for mining. scale to utilise Gabon’s growth potential in the non-oil sector. Economic reform started in Gabon in 1986 under the first Industrial Sector of The Economy structural adjustment programme. It gathered pace since the The industrial sector is not very large in Gabon. Processing 1994 devaluation of the CFA franc as a part of a renewed subof oil and timber is limited to a small refinery at Port Gentil regional integration process. Participation in the multilateral (7,50, 000 tonnes annual capacity) and a few wood processing system was not then made an operative factor in the reform. plants. Only 7 per cent of timber exported in 1999 was pro- Large measures were taken to liberalise foreign trade. VAT and cessed. Apart from oil refining, cement, log processing and agro- excise taxes were introduced and the turnover tax was updatindustrial factories (sugar, mineral water, edible oil, dairy, ed and new systems created for regulating and supervising cigarettes, beverages); the processing element in the secondary financial services. After that integration was to be pursued sector has been neglected in favour of handling raw materials. within a new structure, the Central African Economic and Most agri-food enterprises have been privatised and their priv- Monetary Community (CAEMC), launched in 1998 (Trade Policy Reviews, Press Release of Gabon’s Secretariat’s Report: ileges are protected by trade measures. Most of these industries (woodworking, cigarette, dairy 2001). Gabon’s external trade policy consists mainly of the polproduct and sugar industries) have limited competitiveness icy decided by the Central African Economic and Monetary and low productivity capacity and so are able to serve only the Community (CAEMC), which absorbed the Central African local market. Construction, a major part of the sector, was Customs and Economic Union (CACEU), created in 1964 badly hit in the 1999 crisis by big cuts in public investment and (Trade Policy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001). Trade reforms and the process of regional integration were the reluctance of the private sector due to the government’s re-launched through the fiscal and customs reform of 1993, failure to pay its bills. Industry grew by about 5 percent in real terms in 2002, which followed the devaluation of the CFA franc in 1992. from $442 million in 2001 to $464 million in 2002 (African Trade reforms have also played an important role in the new Commission of Africa). During the period from 1997-2002, business environment. These reforms gave rise to a Common the industrial sector showed an overall growth of 22.5 percent External Tariff (CET), a Generalised Preferential Tariff when its contribution increased from 378US $ million in (GPT) and limits on levels of turnover tax and excise duties 1997 to 464 US$ million in 2002. Though small in terms of (Ibid). The reforms could not produce investment incentives. value, its contribution grew by a very high of 145 percent. At It could only be achieved by a sound business environment, the same time, the contribution of agro-food industry and which required a decrease in the role of the state in the econother industries showed an increase of 18 percent and 13 per- omy, an improvement in the business climate, and a strong

Table 11: GDP contributed by the Industrial Sector 1997-2002 (US$ million)

November 2007-January 2008

R O A D M A P

F O R

G A B O N

Percent of GDI

stance against corruption for a strong ecoFigure 8: Foreign Direct Investment, Percent of GDP nomic growth. Now Gabon is pushing Foreign Direct Investment, Percent of GDP ahead with reforms on three main fronts: fiscal consolidation to ensure macroeco! FDI 10 nomic stability; privatisation to reduce the 7.74 structural constraints on the economy; and 8 reform of the civil service in order to 6 streamline it and enhance the efficiency of the services provided to citizens (Trade 4 Policy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2 2001). 0.74 0.45 1.23 -0.86 0.88 -0.22 A privatisation programme was finally 0 begun in 1997 with the handover of 51 per 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003 cent of the water and electricity company -2 SEEG to the Vivendi group. This was an -4 agreement by the new owners to reduce the cost of the services provided and invest 300 -6 Years billion CFA francs ($421.5 million), includ-6.34 -8 ing extension of the network (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). This was followed in 1998 by privati- tised. It greatly reduced its fleet and was audited. Gabon has improved the environment for business activisation of the sugar enterprise, extraction of timber, importation and distribution of food and sundry products and the Trans- ty by significant reforms of key aspects of regulation. A new investment code has been brought in, offering standard proGabon railway and in 2000 by the state cement company. Though the privatisation process has lost momentum since tections, as well as modified sectoral codes for investment in 1999, still the telecommunications, air transport and agribusi- forestry, mining and petroleum. Enterprise establishment has ness sectors are being privatised on a priority basis (Trade been simplified by a one-stop procedure. Also significant is the implementation of new commercial Policy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001). Firms like the agro-industrial firms Agrogabon (palm oil) laws, agreed at regional level under OHADA. Further reforms and Hevegab (rubber) could not decide on the new owners are planned, in particular by legislative approval of a draft antieven after calls for tenders by the government. It was argued corruption law and a revised Labour Code (Trade Policy that some firms need to be thoroughly reformed before being Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001). Though there is some progress, the economic reforms have privatised. Keeping this in mind, the post and telecommuni-

Table 13: Government Primary Deficit/Surplus (-/+), Percent of GDP Year

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

Govt. Primary Deficit/Surplus

11.3

8.6

8.3

-7.1

5.8

6.1

12.0

7.9

11.4

Govt. Deficit/Surplus Including Grants

3.2

2.7

2.5

-14.4

-1.4

0.6

3.2

3.5

7.4

cations authority was split into Gabon Poste and Gabon Telecom before latter being privatised and the former restructured. The ports and harbors authority has greatly reduced its workforce and promised to rebuild the dockside at Libreville. The privatisation of Air Gabon has been a difficult one because it has a national symbol, bearing the national flag so the government was reluctant to sell it off. Air Gabon has been completely restructured before it was priva-

Source: African Development Indicators: 2002; African Economic Outlook: 2004/5

not been implemented rigorously and consistently. This has raised the doubts about the credibility of the commitment of the government to promote reforms. The lack of the confidence in the government in the implementation of much needed structural reforms by the international organisations like UN and IMF can be witnessed in the failure to start already agreed upon programmes. The programme agreed with the IMF in 2000, lapsed in April 2002 because of delays Table 12: Foreign Direct Investment, Percent of GDP in structural reforms and fiscal slippages Year 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2003 (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). The weak commitment to structural reforms FDI % has discouraged private investment, parof GDP -0.22 7.74 0.74 0.45 1.23 -6.34 -0.86 0.88 ticularly the foreign direct investment Source: UN Conference on Trade and Development: Congo: 19th -21st June 2006 essential for Gabon to revive its economy.

November 2007-January 2008

A F R I C A

Q U A R T E R L Y

Gabon has never been able to attract large FDI ever despite its large oil and mineral resources managed by foreign firms. It may be attributed to Gabon’s ineffective economic reforms, which have not been able to generated sufficient FDI required to lubricate the economy. The reforms undertook were meant to increase the efficien-

US$ million

cent). But since then there has been a huge dip in FDI despite government measures to attract investments. (Table12). In 1995, FDI to Gabon reduced drastically and the FDI rate became -6.34. After decades of downturn, it bounced back in 2000 but it was not enough. Then in 2003, privatisation and liberalisation helped Gabon attract a decent chunk of foreign investment. (Figure 8). Gabon’s FDI is Table 14 : Total External Debt, US$ million mainly privatisation-led (UN Conference on Trade and Development: 2006). These Trade US$ Million 1986 1996 2000 2005 include investment by Véolia in electricity and water, Eramot’s acquisition of the Ext. Debt 1,944 4310 3272 3902 Transgabonais railway and a 51 percent stake of Air Gabon sold to Royal Air Maroc Figure 9: Total External Debt, US$ million (2006). FDI brought capital and technical Total External Debt, US$ million know-how to Gabon. In the pre-liberali5000 ! EXT.DEB sation era, there were very limited foreign 4310 collaborations. Having large natural 4500 resources and lack of technical skill and 3902 4000 sufficient resources to invest, Gabon 3272 encouraged foreign collaborations for 3500 importing technology to build an indus3000 trial base and bridge the technical gap. 2500 Primary Deficit/Surplus Of Gabon

2000 1500

In 1998, the fall in oil prices and timber export due to the Asian economic crisis 500 forced the government to stimulate the economy with higher public spending. 0 The following election campaign led to 1986 1996 2000 2005 serious budgetary indiscipline. The overAfrican Development Indicators: 2002; African Commission of Africa Years all deficit rose to about 14 per cent of GDP cy and financial performance of the state enterprises and also to and the primary deficit to 7.1 per cent in 1998 (Table 13). The reform the civil service. At the same time it was to liberalise the large deficit made the government to suspend payments and legal and institutional framework by revising the labour code, the programmes already agreed upon with the IMF were enacting a competition law, updating business legislation, and allowed to lapse. Since then, the government has made a great adopting a new investment code. The government was also effort to reduce spending to pre-1998 levels. After the 1999 cricommitted to restructure key public enterprises and to priva- sis large cuts were made in public investment and wages and tise agricultural and commercial state enterprises. These mea- hiring of civil servants were withheld except in the social secsures could have been effective only if a sound macroeconom- tor. ic framework could be established, internal and external debt In October 2000, the IMF gave the Gabonese economy an reduced and more resources injected to the private sector. 18-month stand-by credit of $119 million (Economies of the Engaging in a sustained dialogue with trading partners, and World). Oil revenues and non-oil tax revenues improved, espegreater enforcement of WTO rules and government’s discipline cially from the VAT. This recovery produced a primary surplus would constitute a more effective bulwark against protectionist of 12.0 per cent of GDP in2001. Gabon took advantage of this pressures (Trade Policy Reviews, Press Release of WTO: 2001). capital inflow to increase public spending as well as to reduce Once Gabon succeeds in the transition to the post- the net present value of its debt (domestic and external). petroleum economy, based more on private enterprise than The government cleared its domestic debts, including pay state-directed economic activity financed by oil revenues, the rises and the wages. Then on, both the overall surplus and the country will better realise the opportunities for trade offered primary surplus have continued to remain stable with a slight by the multilateral trading system. dip in 2002. The report also underlines the benefits of technical assistance in achieving greater participation. External Debt 1000

Foreign Direct Investment Foreign direct investment was quite high in 1975 (7.74 per-

Gabon has accumulated a large external debt, much of it during the period of major construction in the late 1980s, notably the building of the Trans-Gabon railway. Devaluation

November 2007-January 2008

R O A D M A P

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automatically increased the CFA francs part of the debt. The government guaranteeing the liabilities of some semi stateowned firms, such as the water and electricity company SEEG and the post and telecommunications authority OPT, increased it further. The debt burden is especially heavy because it is not made up of soft loans, so interest payments are high high almost more than half of all tax revenue between 1995 and 2000 (Economic Report on Africa: 2003). From 1998, because of the fall in oil prices, the government began accruing up arrears that led it to suspend debt payments. Since then, it has been trying to correct both the external and internal debt situation. The external debt, which reached a high of $ 4,310 million in 1996 has seen a decline in 2000 and 2005 with 3,272 and $3,902 million respectively (Table 14). This has been made possible due to negotiation of Gabon in 2000 and 2004 for the rescheduling of the debt with the Paris Club. But since the eligible debt (before cut-off date) is only a tiny part of the total, the rescheduling has not been of much help. It concerns arrears of 400 billion CFA francs ($562 million) that have been rolled over to after 2004. The rescheduling has reduced by 28.3 percent its initial level of debt services. The Paris club has considered another rescheduling under the agreement with the IMF. It is mainly to reduce the domestic debt so as to revive the private investment vital for the diversification of the economy. Structural Issues The reliance on oil has stunted the development of certain sectors of the economy, principally forestry and agriculture, and subjected the economy to the fluctuations of the international price of oil. The failure to diversify means that the nonoil sector will be unable to pick up the slack. Therefore, Gabon urgently needs to implement structural measures required for diversification, promote private investment, and guard against macroeconomic instability associated with fiscal mismanagement (Afrol News: 2006). Gabon is coming out of economic stagnation and is expanding briskly. Gabon’s prospects continue to depend on good governance, including economic governance and implementation of market-based reforms. These include promoting privatisation and trade liberalisation. This has raised productivity growth and promoted competition within the country as well as international competitiveness of the local goods and services. Business environment has been made conducive providing investment incentives and withdrawal of preferential advantages and protection. Gabon is a small economy dependent on other countries for the bulk of its consumption. But it has expressed its ambition to operate in larger markets with a view to economic diversification by participation in the WTO and the regional organisations. Gabon has been recording an improved growth trend for few years now. This has been made possible by continued macro-economic stability based on prudent monetary and fiscal policies, higher prices of primary commodities (oil and metals) arising from robust global demand and limited supply. Coupled with this is the higher agricultural performance,

diversification of non-oil sector, and strengthening the budgetary management capacity. Macro-economic stability is visible in improved public finances and the stability of inflation rate. The inflation rate has stayed stable in 2005 an 2006 at 1 percent, which as it is very low. Gabon’s average term of trade has been favorable as oil prices stayed high and non-oil commodity prices showed gains. Timber and other ores like manganese accounted for non-oil exports. They together with oil revenues recorded a high fiscal surplus. The current account balance of Gabon almost doubled as it increased from 5.2 percent in 2002 to 9.6 percent in 2003 (African Economic Outlook: 2004/5). High export revenues led to improved foreign exchange reserves and increased foreign assets. By and large, Gabon’s external debt has continued to fall and pursuance of economic reforms has qualified it for debt relief. Increased flows of FDI and ODA (overseas development assistance) have further strengthened the economic growth. Despite these enormous achievements, Gabon still is facing daunting challenges due to declining oil production and very narrow economic base. Gabon’s real growth lags behind that of other developing countries and is still not good enough to achieve the Millennium Development Goals’s growth target of 7-8 percent (Moin: 2006). As has been noted in a UN report: “Given the severe financing constraints of most sub-Saharan economies, investment rates remain too low to achieve the required degree of diversification into higher value-added production and more dynamic products in international markets that would allow for faster integration into the world economy and a reduction of the vulnerability of the region to external shocks.” It is true for Gabon as the severe financial constraints of Gabon has led to lower investment rates. These are not sufficient to achieve the required degree of diversification into value added production and so the integration into the world economy is slower. To create a platform for sustained growth in the future, it should deepen the reforms to further foster privatisation and continue improving governance further. Strong and effective domestic institutions should be developed which have the capacity to utilise aid flows and attract FDI. Continued fiscal adjustments should be emphasised to free resources for the private sector or the priority sectors, remove infrastructure bottlenecks, boost capacity of production and raise overall saving rate. Structural advancement should be such that it boosts nonoil sectors of economy like mining ores, forestry and promoting export diversification. This will reduce heavy reliance for revenues on the primary products. The service sector of Gabon has great potential. The extraordinary wealth of fauna and flora to found in Gabon’s forests can help develop ecotourism. In 2002, the State established a network of national parks and protected areas covering 11.5 per cent of national territory. Telecommunications services have shown considerable progress, with a teledensity of over 50 per cent in 2006 (WTO Trade Policy Review: 2007). Gabon’s transport infrastructure is weak and a major roadblock for development. It was built during the oil boom years and is mostly in the towns, where 75 per cent of peo-

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manufacturing are still nascent providing for mere 3.5 and 5.7 per cent of GDP respectively in 2006 (WTO Trade Policy Review: 2007). Oil and the service sector remain the two big options for Gabon. Embryonic industry of Gabon also has scope as a revenue earner. Till the time Gabon’s economic base diversifies sufficiently and non-oil sector becomes robust enough for Gabon to be able to achieve its goals, Gabon may continue to experience the effects of “Dutch disease” in the future.

Notes and References [i]“A Picture of Global and Regional FDI Flows”. 2006. UN Conference on Trade and Development. Congo. 19TH-21ST June 2006. [ii] Africa at a Glance. 1995/95, 2004. 2005, 2006. [iii] African Commission of Africa. [iv] African Development Indicators. 2002. [v] African Economic Outlook 2004/2005. 2005. AFDB/OECD. [vi] African Statistical Year Book. 1990/91. Vol. 11. [vii] Afrol News 7th June 2006. “Gabonese Economy Set to Drop with Oil Production”, CFIE Report. 1998. [viii] Chomsky, N. 1997. “The Tyranny of Globalization” in Weekly Mail , June 13, 1997. [ix] Cornelis. K. 1997. “Challenges of the Post-Petroleum Era” in The Courier ACP-EU, No.165. P27-29. [x] Daily Mail, April 15 1999. Johannesburg, South Africa. [xi] Diao, X. & Hazell, P. 2007. “Role of Agriculture in Development Implications for sub-Saharan Africa” in Report of International Food Policy Research Institute. USA, Washington. [xii] Earth Trends: 2003. [xiii] Economic Report on Africa: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007. [xiv] Economies of the World. 2005. London: Routledge. [xv] Encyclopedia Britannica article “Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing”. [xvi] Encyclopedia of Nations: Africa: Gabon. [xvii] Gabon at a glance: gab_aag. pdf: 2006. [xviii] Gever, J. et.al. 1991. Beyond Oil: the Threat to Food and Fuel in the Coming Decades” Colorado: University Press. [xix] Kiieza, J. 2001. “Neo-Liberal Globalization and economic Governance in Africa: Uncomfortable Bedfellows” in E. Maloka & E.L. Roux (eds) Africa in the New Millennium. South Africa: African Institute of South Africa. [xx] Mc Nee, R.B. 1985. “Functional geography of the firm with an illustration from the petroleum industry” in Economic Geography No. 34. P.325-57. [xxi] Moin, S. 2006. “ Resurgent Africa Follows A New Path” in Africa Review of Business and Technology. February 1, 2006. [xxii] National Implementation of Agenda 21 — Profile du Gabon. www.un.org/esa/easrthsummit/gabn-cp.htm. [xxiii] Nnadozie, E. 2000. “Africa at the crossroads of globalization” in J.M. Mbaku & S.C.Saxena (ed.) Africa at the

Crossroads: Between Regionalism and Globalization. USA: Praeger Publisher. [xxiv] Oguntade, O. 2003. “African Renaissance in the Golden Trap” in Africa Insight. Vol.33(3). [xxv] Report of Forest Monitor. “Country Profile: Gabon”. [xxvi] Said, Y. 2007. “Energy: Security, Climate Change and the Resource Curse” in London School Magazine Online. London: The Press and Information Office. P.7-9. [xxvii]Schliephake, K. 1977. Oil and Regional Development. USA: Praeger Publishers. [xxviii]Sizer, N. & Plouvier, D. 2000. “ Increased Investment And Trade By Transnational Logging Companies In Africa, The Caribbean And The Pacific: Implications For The Sustainable Management And Conservation Of Tropical Forests”, World Resources Institute / WWF For Nature. [xxix] Söderling, L. 2006. “After the Oil: Challenges Ahead in Gabon” in Journal of African Economies Vol.15(1):117148; [xxx] Sunderlin, W. & Wunder, S. 2000. “The Influence of the Mineral Exports on the Variability of Tropical Deforestation” in Environment and Development Economics. Vol.5. [xxxi] Toungui, P. 2006. “Spend Now or Save?” in Finance and Development. Washington: International Monetary Fund. P. 40-41 [xxxii] Trade Policy Reviews: Press Release of WTO/TPRB/168. 2001. [xxxiii] The FAO: Country Tables, Basic Data on the Agriculture Sector: 1987. [xxxiv] The World Development Report.1980. [xxxv] UN Conference on Trade and Development: Congo: 19th -21st June 2006. [xxxvi] WTO Trade Policy Review Body: Gabon. 2001. Report by the Secretariat- Summary Observations. [xxxvii] Wunder, S. 2003. Oil Wealth and the Fate of the Forest: A comparative Study of Eight Troplical Countries. London: Routledge. [xxxviii] Wunder, S. 2003a. When the Dutch Disease Met the French Connection: Oil, Macroeconomics and Forest in Gabon. Bogor: CIFOR& CARPE. [xxxix] Wunder, S. 2004. “Oil, Macreoeconomics and Forest” in Forest Livelihood Briefs. No.1. [xl] WWF Report. 1997. Belgium. [xli] Youngquist, W. 1999. “The Post-Petroleum Paradigm and Population”. In A Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. Vol.20(4) . Human Science Press.

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Changing ratio of the green belt and society SUDHA SRIVASTAVA discusses various perspectives on the state of forests and their management in India and Africa.

orests play a very important role in the lives of people. Apart from their economic importance, they also have critical environmental, social, cultural and spiritual values. Forest-dwellers have harmoniously co-existed with their environment for centuries. But the societyforest interaction has been undergoing rapid changes over the years. There are 3870 million hectares (m ha) of forest worldwide, of which 95 percent are natural and five percent are plantations. Tropical forests are the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reservoirs of biodiversity. If the vegetation cover is removed, the area is exposed to erosion and washing out of minerals and nutrients, leaving a poor soil. This makes the ecosystem very fragile. Tropical and subtropical forests comprise 56 percent of worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forests. An estimated 16.1 m ha of natural forests were lost annually during the 1990s (14.6 m ha through deforestation and 1.5 m ha through conversion to forest plantations). Of the 15.2 m ha lost annually in the tropics, 14.2 m ha were converted to other land uses and 1 m ha to forest plantations. Africa and Asia are regions with substantial components of the tropical forest cover. The present study attempts to exam-

ine and compare the status of forest cover and initiatives taken for their conservation in Africa and India, and to explore areas where experiences and views could be exchanged in preserving and managing this highly vulnerable biotic resource. The Role of Forests The list of forest goods and services is long and varied. They range from wood and non-wood forest products (NWFP) to soil and water conservation, conservation of biological diversity, tourism and recreation, and cultural and spiritual values, among others. They are the source of much of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diversity and provide habitats for numerous species. Biodiversity has potential benefits such as potential medicinal value and germ plasm. Two of the most important environmental services are the mitigation of climatic change through carbon sequestration and the conservation of biodiversity. Forests serve as protection against natural hazards such as snow avalanches, rock falls, shallow landslides, debris flows, surface erosion and floods. Tropical forests are probably one of the least known environments but they have to be understood to appreciate the problems of evolution and ecology. Their dynamic and complex systems provide clues for restora-

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tion projects. Central Africa is one of three areas worldwide known for its exceptional bio-cultural diversity. General Distribution of Forests in India and Africa Africa has a wide diversity in its natural vegetation cover ranging from humid forests to deserts, montane temperate forests to coastal mangrove swamps. Almost all African forests are located in the tropical ecological domain. It has about onequarter of all tropical rainforests. African forests are often more important for their environmental services. Their role in protecting watersheds and arresting land degradation is significant and critical especially in the uplands of East and Southern Africa and in arid areas in all sub-regions. The total forest cover in Africa is estimated at around 650 m ha, i.e. 21.8 percent of the land area and 16.8 percent of the global forest cover. Central Africa is the most forested sub region with 43.6 percent of its land under forest cover, accounting for 37 percent of Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s forests, while North Africa is the least forested region with 7.2 percent land area classified as forests. Thus there exists a substantial amount of variation in spatial distribution of forests as well as in woody biomass production.

the world, encompassing the entire countries of Gabon and Table-1: Forest Cover in Various Subregions of Africa Equatorial Guinea, much of Congo, Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Sub region Land area Forest Area Percentage Congo and southwestern corner of (million ha) (million ha) (%) Central African Republic. There is an North Africa 941.4 68.2 7.2 extreme variability in the conditions and East Africa 411.1 85.6 20.8 consequent differences in productivity. Southern Africa 591.1 183.1 31.0 In India too the wide diversity in the Central Africa 551.5 240.7 43.6 natural vegetation cover is an expression of West Africa 505.3 72.2 14.3 the diverse ecological conditions. Total Africa 2978.4 649.9 21.8 Topography and climate have had a domSource : FAO, 2001 inating influence on the natural and cultivated vegetation. Forestry and agriculture Table-1 depicts the variation in distribution of the forest are two important land uses in India, the latter competing cover, which is a reflection of the prevailing environmental with the former under relentless pressure of an ever-increasconditions. ing population. Human population in India has grown from Plantation activity is negligible in countries where there are 361 million in 1951 to over a billion at the beginning of this still large tracts of natural forests. 75,885,000 ha of forests in century. To meet the requirements of food production, Africa are protected (12 percent of total forest area). It contains besides enhancing the productivity, the area under agriculture the second largest contiguous area of tropical moist forest in was increased from 118 m. ha in 1951 to Table-2: Land Use/Land Cover (India) 142 m. ha in 1990s. The forest cover of India, as per the Land use/Land cover Area in million ha Percentage(mha) 1999-2000 assessment, is 63.73 m ha conTotal geographic area 328.73 stituting 19.39 percent of the geographical Reporting area for land utilisation 304.88 100.00 area of the country. Table 2 and 3 shows Forests 68.75 22.55 areas under various categories of forests, Not available for cultivation 41.54 13.63 non-forested areas and scrubs. Most of the Permanent pasture & grazing land 11.04 3.62 forests are dense as the prevailing enviLand under tree crops & groves 3.57 1.17 ronmental conditions have been conCultivatable waste land 13.94 4.57 ducive to the existence of luxurious forests. Fallow land Over a period of time, large areas have (other than current fallows) 9.89 3.25 been reduced to open forests, with area Current fallows 13.32 4.37 under scrubs showing an increasing trend. Net area sown 142.82 46.84 Mangroves are restricted to stretches of Source: Land use Statistics - At a Glance, 1996-97, Ministry of Agriculture, GOI, 2000. coastal belts.

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Table-3: Forests, Scrubs and Non-Forest Areas (India) Class

Area in sq. km.

Dense forest Open forest Mangrove Sub-total Scrub Non-Forest Total

377,358 255,064 4,871 637,293 51,896 2,598,074 3,287,263

% of Geographic area 11.48 7.76 0.15

Forested area 59.21 40.02 0.76 19.39 1.58 79.03 100.00

Source : State of Forest Report, 1999, FSI, India.

Table-4: Select Demographic Characteristics — India, Africa and World Country/ Total land Total Area Area 2003 (‘000 ha) (‘000)

Density 2003, Annual (population/ rate of km²) changes, (20002005)(%) 1,06,5462 358.4 1.5 8,50,558 28.6 2.2 6,30,1463 48.2 1.2

Population Rural, 2003, %

India Africa World

71.7 61.3 51.7

2,97,319 2,97,8394 13,06,3900

Source : State of the World’s Forests, 2001, FAO.

Table-5: Forest Cover and Change — India, Africa and World

Country/ Area

Forest Area 2000

Total Forest (‘000 ha) India 64,113 Africa 6,49,866 World 38,69,455

% of land area 21.6 21.8 29.6

Area per Capita (ha) 0.1 0.8 0.6

Forest Cover Change 1990-2000 Forest Plantations (‘000 ha) 32,578 8,036 1,86,833

Annual change

Annual rate of change (‘000 ha) (%) 38 0.1 -5262 -0.8 -9391 -0.2

Source: State of the World’s Forests, 2001, FAO.

Table-6: Production, Trade and Consumption of Select Forest Products — India, Africa and World (1998)

Fuel wood (‘000 m² ) India Africa World

India Africa World

Production 3,00,564 5,45,915 17,96,677

Imports 0 1 2,524

Exports 0 1 3,705

Consumption 3,00,564 5,45,915 17,95,496

The net increase in the forest cover of the country since the last assessment in 1997 is 3,896 sq km (State of Forest Report, 1999). The dense forest has increased by 10,098 sq km and mangrove by 44 sq km, whereas open forest has decreased by 6,246 sq km. Tables 4, 5 and 6 depict certain demographic indicators, forest cover data and consumption of the most important forest products for Africa, India and the entire world, that bring out the comparative picture effectively. However, it must be noted that the continent of Africa, comprising of several countries, has a far larger geographical extent than India. India has a very high density of population as compared to the averages of Africa and the world, though the rate of change annually is higher in Africa (Table 4). Also, a much larger percentage of the population is rural in India. Most developing countries are now experiencing rapid urbanisation. Table-5 shows that both India and Africa have almost similar proportions of their land under forest cover. Total area under plantations is far greater in India. It appears that the trend is towards an increase in forest cover in India, while the average for the world and Africa shows a decreasing trend. Table-6 depicts the two forest products that are most in demand i.e. wood for fuel and round wood for industry. There is limited trade in fuel wood considering the average for the world, but in India and Africa it is practically absent. Fuel wood is produced for local use in both these regions. The pressure exerted on this resource is primarily due to a rapidly growing population. Industrial round wood shows greater consumption than production in India and vice versa in Africa. While India imports large quantities, Africa exports large quantities of round wood. Forests in the Past

As per the history of African rainforests, till the last ice age (until 10,000 years ago) Industrial round-wood (‘000 m²) climate in Africa was colder and drier. Production Imports Exports Consumption Most forests were of a tropical montane 1,19,308 1,998 8 21,298 type, of lesser biodiversity. At the height of 66,785 361 5,481 61,665 glaciation, forests were restricted to three 15,87,715 1,22,996 1,15,523 1,59,5188 main refuge areas northeastern Congo Source: State of the World’s Forests, 2001, FAO. basin, Gabon, southern Cameroon, Bioko,

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Liberia and Sierra Leone. As the climate improved, these forests were radically changed. The alienation of forestbecame core areas from where the forests spread. These core dwellers from nature led to destruction of restricted forest areas are still biologically the richest areas of Africa (though the land and conflicts between the authorities and the forest peosavanna and grassland ecosystems have a much wider hetero- ple. Mono-cultural practices to grow commercially important geneity). The rainforest flora is acting as a reservoir of genet- trees led to substantial changes in the characteristics of the ic diversity and potential variability. For a large part of planet indigenous forests. New laws restricted small-scale hunting by earth’s history, it has acted as a centre of evolutionary activity tribals, but facilitated more organised ‘shikaar’ expeditions for from which the rest of the world’s flora and fauna have been the British. Shifting or ‘jhum’ cultivation was the characterisrecruited. tic form of agriculture over large parts of the hilly and forestIn many traditional communities, the role of trees and ed regions of northeastern India, where plough activities were forests in protecting the environment is well-understood. not always feasible. But the British foresters held ‘jhum’ to be Religious and cultural beliefs ensure the protection of trees and the most destructive of all practices. The customary use of woodland for their environmental and social values, giving less nature was governed by traditional systems of resource use and importance to their economic benefits. The practice of main- conservation that involved a mix of religion, folklore and trataining sacred groves is widespread. However, interactions dition in regulating the species, quantum and form of exploitawith other societies have brought about changes in their tion. Different communities, acutely felt the suppression, and approach and departure from the traditional values and beliefs. even the obliteration of these indigenous systems of resource In India, geological evidences of forestry 350 to 225 million management under colonial rule, albeit in somewhat differyears ago show super-abundant vegetation. Destruction start- ent ways. Colonial forestry marked an ecological, economic ed in Chalcolithic period (4500-3500 BC), the period in the and political watershed in Indian forest history. Near East and Europe after the Neolithic and before the Bronze Age. This period has the earliest evidence for complex Deforestation in Recent Times societies, the location of cemeteries outside of settlements, craft specialisation in copper tool production (casting and lost Deforestation is the permanent destruction of indigenous wax), ivory, and ceramics. forests and woodlands. It is the process of changing land use Forests disappeared with the invasion of people from from forestry to non-forestry use. The World Resources Sumerian region who practised settled cultivation and pas- Institute regards deforestation as one of the world’s most pressturage. When the Aryans settled, the region from Punjab in ing problems. It is a threat to the benefits that forests offer. As the northwest to Ganga in the east was covered with thick jun- land is turned over for other purposes, there is a reduction in gle. With imperialism, came the development of forestry as a number of trees, leading to a decline in coverage and biomass, state dominated subject. and depletion of ecosystem services. In the Mauryan system of administration, a deep process of More forest was lost between 1981 and 1990 than has been thinking that worked for conservation, utilisation and man- recorded in any decade in human history. In developed counagement of forests was seen. For example, game laws forbade tries, forest areas have stabilised, but in developing countries the killing or trapping of animals in forest preserves with strict deforestation continues unabated. punishment for violation. The net annual change world over was 9.4 m ha between Hiuen-Tsang’s chronicled history gives an insight of the 1990 and 2000. While 14.6 m. ha were deforested, only 5.2 m rich forests and forestry in India in 629-645 A.D. Even the ha were reforested/afforested. About one percent of forests Mughals were aware of the commercial value of about 72 were lost every year during 1990s. The causes of deforestation types of timber. With an increase in population and settle- are very complex. A competitive global economy drives the ments, and with an expansion of agriculture, forests were need for money in economically challenged tropical countries. cleared, probably leading to a natural process of desiccation and Governments sell logging concessions to raise money for prosilting of riverbeds. Table-7: Forest Area Change — Africa Drastic changes to the forests of India came about with the advent of East India Sub region/ FRA 2000 Figures Company and later subjugation to the Region Total Forest Total Forest Forest area Annual crown. Forests became a resource base 1990 2000 change change (especially for sleepers) for the colonial (000 ha) (000 ha) 1990-2000 % power during the setting up of the railway (000 ha) network. With the introduction of the North Africa 5,930 6,262 34 0.5 Forest Act in 1865, government exercised West Africa 98,586 85,079 -1,352 -1.6 total control over forests, restricting free East Africa 1,48,995 1,35,423 -1,356 -1.0 movement of the forest-dwellers and Central Africa 2,36,532 2,28,011 -852 -0.4 introducing legislation for classifying the Southern Africa 2,12,260 1,94,852 -1,740 -0.9 forests. As villages got separated from their Insular Africa 172 212 4 1.9 main means of sustenance, social bonds Africa 7,02,475 6,49,866 -5,262 -0.8 that traditionally regulated community

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jects, to pay international debt, or to develop industry. In Africa, 1.1 m ha of forest land was cleared each year between 1980 and 1995. Between 1990 and 2000 there was a loss of 52 m ha accounting for 56 percent of world’s forest cover decrease (Table 7); 44 percent of the decline was in the three countries of Sudan, Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo. There is considerable variation in forest cover loss with Southern Africa recording about 31 percent of forest loss in Africa, the highest, during this period. In 1990s Southern Africa witnessed the highest rate of deforestation esp. Zambia and Zimbabwe. Over 90 percent of West Africa’s original forest cover has been lost; only a small part qualifies today as ‘frontier forest’ (large intact natural forest ecosystem). For every 28 trees cut down only one is replanted. In India, forests are of varying densities and types. A change from dense to open, or open to scrub (a lower order of vege-

poaching, and accelerated urbanisation and industrialisation. Illegal logging, drought, civil wars and bush fires add to the woes. Of late, severe wildfires, windstorms and commercial harvesting of bush meat have posed great threats to the forests and wildlife in Africa. The following examples highlight the causes and repercussions of various activities on the forest cover. ! In the densely populated areas of West and Central Africa large areas under forests have been converted to cash-crops and subsistence cultivation. In Central Africa, vast tracts have low population densities but extensive forests. Animal husbandry is an important practice in arid/semi-arid regions and nomadism is the adaptation to seasonal variations in availability of fodder and water. Savannah woodlands have been converted for rain-fed agriculture. The pattern of land use has a direct bearing on forests and forestry, esp. deforestation and the nature of forests. The chitemene (a system of shifting agriculture in Central and Southern Africa) and tavy slash-and-burn agriTable-8 : Forest Area Change — India culture in Madagascar are responsible for forest loss. To improve their own economic conditions, 1997 1999 Net change many peasants planted higher-yielding crops that Assessment Assessment require the nutrients released by freshly slashedDense forest 3,67,260 3,77,358 +10,098 and burned forests. Open forest 2,61,310 2,55,064 -6,246 ! 1997 and1998 were the worst years reportMangrove 4,827 4,871 +44 ed for wildfires and forest fires in recent times. Total Forest 6,33,397 6,37,293 3896 Major fires occurred in 2000 in Ethiopia, eastScrub 57,211 51,896 -5,315 ern Mediterranean and western USA. In Non-forest 2,596,655 2,598,074 +1419 Ethiopia it was due to the delayed onset of the Source: State of Forest Report, 1999 rainy season and increasing land use pressure. Burning to clear agricultural land in the montane tation), denotes a degradation of the forest, while the opposite suggests an improvement. An increase in dense forests and forests in the southern part of the country has given rise to large-scale wildmangroves (Table 8) reflects attempts at improving the forest fires and by the end of April 2000, more than 1, 00,000 ha of forest cover. Some open forests were probably converted to area have been affected or destroyed. In 2000; 200 m ha were burnt in the dense variety, while some areas under scrubs and Africa south of the equator. It must be borne in mind however that traopen forests could have been turned to non-forest activities ditionally, fire has been used as a land management tool. too. However the fact that some improvement has occurred ! Throughout Africa there is a heavy demand for firewood, charcoal and roundwood. Oil exploration and mining in Central and Western is a positive sign. Africa are the other causes for deforestation. Losses have been particularly high in countries like Uganda, where the forest and woodland cover Factors Causing Deforestation and Impact shrunk from an estimated 45 percent of total area in 1900 to only 7.7 Tropical deforestation and degradation of forests in many percent by 1995. parts of the world are negatively affecting the availability of for- ! On a commercial level, logging has increased greatly in Central est goods and services. The causes of forest degradation and Africa. West African firms have cut through their own forests. The sitloss are complex and vary widely from place to place. A dis- uation changed rapidly after the 1994 devaluation of the African franc tinction is made between direct and underlying causes. Direct by 50 percent under the Structural Adjustment Program. Prior to devalcauses include insect pests and diseases, fire, over-harvesting uation, the difficulties of access, transport, and dealing with unstable govof industrial wood, fuel wood and other forest products, mis- ernments, as well as overvalued currency had made Central Africa a relmanagement of production forests, including poor harvesting atively expensive place to operate and slowed investments in timber practices, overgrassing, air pollution, and extreme conditions industries. After devaluation, production costs fell and logging in Central such as storms. Population growth is creating immense pres- Africa became more competitive. As Asian and European timber firms sure on forests and woodland. Fuel wood is the main cook- moved into the region, logging operations increased manifold. Between ing fuel of nearly half the world’s people, while wood is essen- 1990 and 1997, the volume of timber exported annually from the tial for building, construction, etc. Timber exports are a source Congo Basin increased ten-fold to 2 million cubic meters. ! Logging roads are opening vast areas of forest to colonists and poachfor foreign exchange for many countries. Africa’s forests are being threatened by a combination of sev- ers. Fragmentation leads to loss of contact with part of the ecosystem neceral factors — agricultural expansion, commercial harvesting, essary to maintain regeneration and full biodiversity. Illegal and corrupt increased firewood collection, inappropriate land and tree activities threaten the tropical forests. In some cases due to trade liberalitenure regimes, encroachment, heavy livestock grazing and sation and globalisation, illegal logging and trade appear to be on the rise.

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A F R I C A Governments, NGOs and, private sector institutions are trying to stem illegal activities. ! Habitat degradation caused by these factors and the over-exploitation of wildlife are major factors contributing to local depletion of forest-based wildlife populations. Underlying causes include poverty, population growth, markets and trade in forest products, and macro-economic policies. In India, under the British rule, the character and extent of forests changed as demand increased for specific types of wood. The trend of decreasing forest cover continued and today, with the population crossing the one billion mark, further degradation of forest areas is envisaged. The main reasons for forest loss in India are shifting cultivation, expansion of agricultural lands, encroachment, fuel wood depletion and tree felling. There are a number of factors responsible for the decline in the plant cover: ! Biotic pressure — grazing, lopping, reduction in forest area, shifting cultivation, hydro-electric projects, quarrying, road construction and fire. ! Process of natural selection and elimination. ! Natural phenomena — landslides, long periods of rain or drought, shifting sand-dunes, avalanches. Impacts of deforestation include habitat loss and fragmentation, loss in biodiversity, climate change, desertification, and adverse effects on human forest inhabitants. Fragmentation not only reduces the area of organisms but exposes them to stressful environmental conditions. Endemic species, especially, are at great risk, and prolonged exposures to adverse conditions may lead to their extinction. It is estimated that as a result of habitat destruction, about 10,000 species may become extinct each year, which is unprecedented in all of geological history of species. Other impacts include : ! Forest dwellers, often the poorest and the most vulnerable members of the society, are deprived of their homes and livelihood. ! Fuel wood is harder to obtain, land is eroded, lakes and dams are silted. ! The risk of global warming increases as trees shrink in numbers. ! Biological diversity is reduced as plants and animals become extinct. ! Over the coming years new and emerging threats including climate change, unchecked spread of alien/introduced species, uncontrolled expansion of cities. Pollution from cars and industry are likely to aggravate the levels of poverty, environmental decline and ill-health. Responses to Threats Today, deforestation programs focus on the major rainforests of the tropics. There is an acute need for development with minimum harm to the environment. Sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of tech-

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nological and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations. The concept of sustainability has deep historic roots in forestry. Today, it has evolved to encompass wider issues and values. It is now seen as a multi-purpose management of the forest so that it’s overall capacity to provide goods and services is not diminished, and genetic resources, biodiversity and environment are protected and preserved. According to the FAO definition — “Forest Management deals with the overall administrative, economic, legal, social, technical and scientific aspects related to natural and cultivated forests. It implies various degrees of deliberate human intervention, ranging from action aimed at safeguarding and maintaining the forest ecosystem and its functions, to favouring given socially or economically valuable species or groups of species for the improved production of goods and environmental services. Sustainable forest management will ensure that the values derived from the forest meet present-day needs while at the same time ensuring their continued availability and contribution to long-term development needs”. Forest Management involves several initiatives like — ! Preparing national and regional conservation strategies; ! Laying down a policy for environmental planning and rational land use allocation; ! Improving the capacity to manage and provide for legislation and organisation; ! Providing facilities for training and research’ ! Building support for conservation through the participation and education of public; ! Conservation built on rural development. Many high-level decision makers however still view forests as obstacles to progress. Forest governance systems are evolving rapidly, together with the respective roles and responsibilities of government, the private sector and civil society. Recent technical, policy and institutional measures to improve forest management and conservation reflect a move to balance social, economic and environmental objectives. Efforts to reduce timber harvesting in natural forests and to

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develop alternate sources of industrial wood, improved har- protecting and managing state-owned forests. vesting practices, reduction of illegal forest activities and Important lessons are emerging from experiences in comincreasing community-based forest management are the munity-based management in Asia and Africa that can assist trends in many of the developing countries. In addition, there current and future initiatives. is rising private sector and foreign investment in plantation. In Africa, policy and legal changes and implementation on While economic benefits are critical, other benefits are also the ground are gaining momentum. The approach is differimportant, esp. those related to the environment. A number ent from the user centred model of India. Secure tenurial of organisations — both national and international, non-gov- arrangements and a clear understanding of roles and responernmental included — are pursuing efforts to strengthen the sibilities are of primary importance. Incentives would be far capacity to implement sustainable forest management. But greater if more productive, rather than degraded forests are policy and legal changes have often not been sustained. Several given to communities. The concept of community participaorganisations like the World Resources Institute (WRI), WWF, tion in forest resource management has found wider accepConservation International, IUCN, WCMC and Birdlife tance than was the case a decade ago. International have attempted to identify the most significant The private sector in forestry is undergoing structural tropical forest sites in terms of biological diversity. changes owing in part to the effects of globalisation. The priThe past few years have seen a strengthening of inter-gov- vate sector now owns or controls significant forest areas worldernment deliberations on forest wide. International support is Tropical deforestation and at international level and playing an important role in increasing regional co-operadegradation of forests in many supporting efforts by countries tion regarding trade and techniconservation and sustainable parts of the world are negatively in cal issues. Intergovernmental development. affecting the availability of forest Panel on Forests (IPF), Conservation of biodiversity Intergovernmental Forum on goods and services. Direct causes is being addressed with a rising Forests (IFF) and the United of urgency and a wide include insect pests and diseases, sense Nations Forum on Forests range of initiatives have taken fire, over-harvesting of industrial place. Making progress in this (UNFF) had as their mandate the promotion of sustainable wood, fuel wood and other forest direction will require research, management, conservation and experimentation, thought, disproducts, mismanagement of development of all types of cussion and commitment from forests to strengthen long-term production forests, including poor policy to the field level. political commitment. Progress harvesting practices, overgrasing, Innovative approaches have resulted in the implementation emerged. There are two major air pollution, and extreme of important conventions like categories of strategies to conconditions such as storms. Convention of Biological serve biodiversity — in situ and Diversity, Framework ex situ. Ex situ is feasible for Convention on Climate Change and Convention to Combat only a small number of species. In situ entails conservation both Desertification, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, inside and outside protected areas, protected areas being the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of cornerstone of conservation. Ten percent of the world’s forests Wild Fauna and Flora, African Convention on the are located within protected areas. The designation of many was Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources 2003, World based on criteria other than biodiversity such as scenic, recreHeritage Convention, Forest Stewardship Council and ational, historical or cultural significance. Also, they may be vulInternational Tropical Timber Agreement. The Global nerable to pollution, encroachment and illegal hunting. Many Environment Facility (GEF) is an important international suggest that species-rich ‘hotspots’ should be the priority of funding mechanism for conservation in developing countries. conservation efforts. Sites with higher volume of species, high The changes that have occurred over the last decade have endemism, or areas with species of evolutionary significance, been described as a paradigm shift in the planning and man- or areas of ecological representativeness are often selected for agement of protected areas. Attributes of the old paradigm protection. Protected areas too are subjected to threats like included monopolistic control by a central government, pro- encroachment, hunting/fishing, logging/fuel wood collection, tectionist policies, exclusion of local communities and fre- livestock grazing, mining, fire, road building, etc. quently the prohibition of traditional uses of wildlife resources. The involvement of communities in forest management is Initiatives in Africa now a significant feature of national forest policy and practice and internationally supported forestry programs throughout Efforts to introduce systematic management of natural the world. National forestry agencies are commonly under- forests in Africa have a long history. Most have focused on reggoing decentralisation and restructuring. Faced with inade- ulating, harvesting and managing forests for sustained yield. quate financial and human resources, the government is Political, social and economic changes have overshadowed increasingly turning to local communities to assist them in these efforts and today very little natural forest area is proper-

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ly managed in Africa for sustenance. Forests in protected areas cover about five percent of Africa’s total forest cover. East Africa has the largest proportion of its land under protection (more than 12 percent). The fight against crime and corruption include elements such as the creation of a stronger monitoring and enforcement system, more transparent decision-making processes, simpler laws that reduce regulation and the discretionary power of individual government officers, severe punishments and above all, the effective involvement of civil society and of progressive private sector corporations. Private sector involvement in forestry in Africa varies considerably. In some sectors such as logging, forest plantation management, wood processing and trade, wildlife-based tourism, it is strong. The emerging trend in Africa, esp. in Gambia and United Republic of Tanzania is to support the custodial interests of the forest-adjacent community as they would ensure that the forest/woodland does not become degraded. Linkages between conservation and tenure form the basis for more focused activities. The local communities as stakeholders address a range of forest management goals, including forest protection, production and poverty alleviation, or economic benefits. Knowledge and awareness in Eastern and Southern Africa has been enhanced through reviews on community involvement management. Community-based management systems are very much in a stage of evolution and the transformation of forest management to community-based stakeholder is a challenge. There is little experience in collaborative management in which multi-interest stakeholders work together effectively in decision-making and planning at the local level. Several binding international and regional instruments are in force. A few are listed below: ! The Central African Forest Treaty ! USAID Central African Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE). ! NEPAD (New partnership for Africa’s Development). ! Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) — initiated by African Forestry and Wildlife Commission and the Near East Forestry Commission — coordinated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN as a collaborative effort involving all African countries, the

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African development Bank, European Commission and various regional and sub regional organisations. FOSA complements other national forest programs. ! Southern African Development Community (SADC). ! East Africa Forest Network (EAFORNET) with technical and financial support by IUCN. ! Bush meat Crisis Task Force and Ape Alliance are NGOs trying to address the problem of bush meat crisis. Today there is a move towards decentralisation and devolution. CAMPFIRE in Zimbabwe is an example of CBC (community-based conservation). The institutional environment is dominated by (i) a public sector whose capacity is continually being eroded, (ii) a poorly developed market mechanism controlled by a small private sector with short term profit maximisation as the main objective and (iii) a growing informal sector whose limited access to resources and technology results in over-exploitation of resources. The majority of the people are un-empowered and thus unable to play a positive role. Initiatives in India Forest plantations are important forest resources, within or outside forest reserves. The earliest plantation in India was done in 1840 at Nilambur in Kerala where the native species teak was planted. Regular planting, mainly of teak, took off from 1865 in many teak growing central and southern provinces. Eucalyptus was introduced in the Nilgiri Hills of the present Tamil Nadu state in 1858. Plantation of other native species was accelerated after the Taungya system was introduced in 1911. Plantations, however, did not cover extensive areas until 1950. The National Forest Policy of India was introduced in 1952, through which both the environmental benefits and commercial value of forests were stressed. Planned afforestation for soil conservation and for production of industrial raw material as well as fuel wood and fodder started in the late 1950s. Industrial plantations were mainly raised within the recorded forest area after clear felling the economically less important forests. The practice

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continued up to the fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79). cent of the geographical area under forest cover. In 1970, the National Commission of Agriculture preIndia has taken concrete steps like creation of protected scribed a generalised policy of employment generation to min- areas, botanical gardens, seed orchards, seed strands and gene imise encroachment into forested areas. After the establish- plasms for conserving and preserving both flora and fauna. ment of the Forest Development Corporations in the State and Protected areas have been designated for management, prolaunching of Social Forestry Projects with the assistance of tection and conservation of biodiversity. There are 87 nationexternal donors, massive afforestation started in 1979. While al parks and 484 wildlife sanctuaries with total areas of 4.06 m the Forest Corporations continued planting industrially ha and 11.54 m ha respectively. These together constitute 4.74 important species after clear felling of the commercially less percent of the geographic area of the country and are referred valued forests, most of the plantations under Social Forestry to as Protected Areas (PA). were done outside the forest reserves, along rail, road and In addition, 11 biosphere reserves have also been created canal sides, other Government wastelands, in private farm with a geographical area of 4.3 m ha for nature conservation lands with short rotation species. with scientific research, environmental monitoring, educaLarge-scale community-based initiatives began in South tion, training and demonstration. It functions as an open sysAsia in 1980s. Under JFM in India generally degraded forests tem and people living within it are part of the reserve, with no are placed under community management, while the more changes being made of land-holding or land use. productive forests remain under the National parks and wildlife sanctuaries control of the state. The community The involvement of local are set aside for conservation and protectprovides labour and protection to ing wildlife including both flora and fauna communities and improve the degraded areas and to and soil and water therein. Strict vigilance entrepreneurs as allow the forest to regenerate. The on the wild animals for their protection owners of logging state receives a revitalised forest and a and security is the main aim here. large share of the income from timber Trees outside forests (TOF) have operations is very and other resources. The community been making major contributions in limited. A substantial gains access to areas that were denied meeting the needs of timber, small timber (officially) for the gathering of proportion of the timber and fuel wood in our country. In NWFPs and a portion of the income industry is dominated the absence of assessment of this “invisigenerated from the sale of timber. This by outside interests. ble” resource in the past, reliable informais a user-centred cooperation. tion is not available. Foreign companies The 1980 Forest (Conservation) Act The shift in philosophy from revenue introduced laws for forest protection have initiated numerous forestry to people’s forestry has resulted in and encouragement of afforestation infrastructure projects the setting up forest protection commitactivities, but failed to focus on the relatees in various parts of the country to to cater to their tionship between forests and the tribal maintain a vigil over forests. People’s parpopulation dependent on them. ticipation in afforestation programs has own interests. Hence, in 1982, a Committee on made authorities change their approach forests and tribals in India was established. It emphasised the from energy forestry to need-based forestry. need for people’s participation in forest conservation and management, esp. by the forest-dwellers, as they possessed Issues and Problems immense traditional knowledge and wisdom. Plantation forestry received further impetus when a National Wasteland Where population densities are low, there is a relatively Development Board (NWDB) was created in 1985. NWDB low rate of deforestation. But a high density of population has thrust areas that include regeneration of degraded forests, coupled with high dependence on land leads to land use greening of public lands and encouragement of farm forestry. conflicts in most countries. Resource use conflicts are severe The planted area is reported by the National Afforestation and in savannah woodlands, because of low productivity and Eco-development Board (NAEB) under the Union Ministry intense demands. Complexity increases because of various of Environment and Forests. systems of resource use. Management plans are available for A new thinking emerged in 1988 in the form of a National a negligible fraction of the area. Forests are important for local Forest Policy replacing the old policy. This policy was communities but their low commercial value makes them enacted eight years following the establishment of the less attractive for investment. Department of Environment by the Indian government The involvement of local communities and entrepreneurs of India, and the subsequent shift of the Forest Department as owners of logging operations is very limited. A substantial to the Ministry of Environment and Forests from the proportion of the timber industry is dominated by outside Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Conservation and interests. Foreign companies have initiated numerous infrasenvironmental stability are the main areas of focus with tructure projects to cater to their own interests. Peasants and varied suggestion for their implementation. The most colonists do not necessarily benefit from the inflow of foreign significant recommendation has been preservation of 33 per- firms. Small economic circles of the economic elite share the

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A F R I C A vast majority of benefits from logging, oil extraction and mining and virtually no benefits are returned to the people who are impacted the most by these development projects. How much of the foreign aid actually reaches those for whom it is meant is a matter of concern. Most timber leaves the countries as raw logs since environmental regulations are poorly enforced. Logs continue to be the preferred currency of political patronage in many countries. The current policy emphasises on the importance of in situ conservation of biodiversity of plants and animals. As forest dwellers continue to live in 56 percent of parks and 72 percent of sanctuaries, legal and illegal grazing in forest-land notwithstanding the carrying capacity of conserved area, continues to cause havoc. Timber extraction too continues in many of them. These are basic problems of socio-economic conditions in developing countries vis-Ă -vis need for conservation for sustainable development. Growing populations, poverty, armed conflicts, high levels of national debt, natural disasters and diseases, political instability and corruption have all taken their toll not only on the people but also the rich natural environment. The African forest scene has been facing several problems thanks to a weak public sector, imperfectly developed market forces, and an expanding informal sector. Low economic growth rates and continued dependence on land will cause deforestation to be high. As forest-based informal sector is slated to grow, resource depletion will be a major problem. It is feared that other problems would surface e.g. illegal logging and trade in wildlife. The growing involvement of organisations like Green Peace, Global Witness, Environmental Investigation Agency and Global Forest Watch Initiative, could help track international network of illegal logging and facilitate preventive and corrective actions. All indications are that deforestation in Africa will continue as a result of agricultural expansion, forest conversion for mining and other activities, and for wood production, including fuel wood, to meet the growing urban demand. Individual regions have their own sets of factors that will have some repercussion on the forest cover : ! Being economically poor, the East African region offers limited opportunities for diversification. Thus rate of deforestation is unlikely to decline. ! Due to extension of agriculture, deforestation may increase in Angola and Mozambique. ! In Central Africa most of the reduction in forest cover has taken place in Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. As logging expands and accessibility improves, there will be strong incentives for commercial and subsistence cultivation. Another factor is logging of easily accessible secondary forests as marketability of species improves due to technological advances. Cash-crop farming may also be a cause for the same. Differences in driving forces and complex cross-sectoral linkages make it difficult to give precise indication of the future changes in forest cover. Though many countries have agreed to conventions of protection of biodiversity, these are not enforced in practice. Most

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governments lack funds and technical know-how to make these projects a reality. Funding comes from foreign sectors, 70-75 percent of forestry being funded by external resources. Population growth exceeds three percent annually and combined with poverty it makes it difficult for the government to control local subsistence clearing and hunting. Equally challenging is the debt obligation most countries face. The easiest and most expedient way for such governments to service these debt payments is to sell their forest products and resources. In the next two decades it is feared, that if forests are lost at the current rates, there will be negligible efforts to apply sustainable forest management. The increasing demand for fuel wood and the high urban consumption would deplete forest and woodland resources in the vicinity of urban centres. There would be a decline in the state of the environment, esp. exacerbation of the water crisis because of deterioration of watersheds, with other negative effects such as declining quality and quantity of water supplies and increased siltation of reservoirs and other irrigation facilities. There would also be increased conflicts in wildlife management undermining the potential for expansion of wildlife-based tourism. Management of forests of Central and West Africa will depend on global demand for tropical hardwood, with shifts in direction of trade with emerging markets, ability of government to regulate activities of forest industry and enforce compliance with the principles of sustainable management. Also it will depend on the capacity of local users to manage the resources in a sustainable manner, which will require strengthening of the institutional technical capabilities. In spite of the policy and legal changes made in a number of countries, largescale woodland management is still a long way off. In the African context where the indigenous private sector is less developed, privatisation could expand the role of MNCs. The situation of forests in India is still precarious. An exploding population and the inability to provide alternative source of fuel lead to problems and conflicts. As against the world average of 0.64 hectare of forests per human, an Indian has only 0.06 (the European has 1.3 and Chinese 0.1 ha)! Conclusion The goal of conservation should be to secure present and future options by maintaining biological diversity at genetic, species, population and ecosystem levels. The bioregion approach helps maintain biological communities, habitats and ecosystems as well as ecological processes where the landscape has been fragmented by roads, settlements, dams and agricultural development. (A bioregion is a geographic area containing one or more nested ecosystems and whose boundaries are defined by the limits of ecological systems or human communities.) The ecosystem approach and ecosystem management include systems thinking, recognition of the complexity and dynamism of ecological and social systems, ecologically derived boundaries, consideration of different time scales, adaptive management to deal with changes and uncertainty,

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and collaborative decision-making. An interdisciplinary approach is the need of the hour. Ecologists have started to prioritise the forests richest in biological diversity and most in need of protection. Economists have a better knowledge of the long-term economic importance of the services provided by intact forest ecosystem. Social scientists have documented the forest management practices of local communities and indigenous people, and analysed how these can be harnessed for the future. But efforts are needed from countries within and outside to steer Africa on an environmentally sustainable course. Actions include deeper cuts in Africa’s debt burden, a boost in overseas aid, empowering of local communities, enforcing environmental agreements, introducing green and clean technologies, and allowing African countries fair access to international markets for their goods and services. Africa is undergoing fundamental political and institutional changes that could gain momentum during the next two decades with a potential to affect forests and forestry positively. Forest strategies in Africa need to facilitate the Great Transition. The Great Transition involves the establishment of democratic institutions that foster the widespread adoption of participatory approaches to local resource management. Land reforms must adopt improved land practices. The local capacity to manage resources should be enhanced without compromising sustainability. Nevertheless there is hope. The Asian economic slowdown did provide precious time for African nations to re-examine their forestry policies. Numerous innovative schemes have been devised to incorporate local peoples into the sustainable management of rainforests by the government agencies, NGOs, conservation organisations and private industries. Pressures have been put on the African governments to abandon tax incentives for practices that encourage deforestation, but provide practically no return to most African people. The region with its rich biodiversity and varied landscape has excellent potential for ecotourism, though it is faced by a host of problems pertaining to infrastructure, political stability, health and safety. There is ample potential for bio-prospecting for potentially useful drugs, food products and other NWFPs. It is expected that with recent economic changes (production and export of petroleum, liberalisation of economy) and with current efforts toward fuel switching (increased availability of LPG), the pressure on forests in North Africa will decrease and thus slow down forest cover depletion. There is awareness, a plan, and some definite progress to rectify this situation. It is unlikely, that agricultural land will be available for expansion of forest cover. The only available land includes the “culturable wastelands”, covering an area of 13.94 m ha, and part of the “fallow land and other than current fallows”, covering an area of 9.89 m ha, which seem to be potential areas on which forest cover can be expanded through afforestation. In addition, efforts will have to be made to raise trees outside conventional forest areas through innovative agro forestry programmes. Forestry research simultaneously needs to be given top priority, esp. with respect to increased productivity through bet-

ter silvicultural practices. A substitute to replace wood and wood products and provision of non-conventional energybased technology or fuel saving technology, must be a priority area in research. Detailed and accurate knowledge of this resource by area, grouped into species and age classes, their locations, purpose and ownership are essential for rational planning. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, established in 1985, seeks to address a number of problems of the people of the region and take steps to promote the welfare of the people and improve their quality of life. The history of forestry in the two countries shows a great deal of similarity. Co-operations at the regional level among countries that have similar environments and similar problems should be able to establish necessary institutional arrangements and exchange programs. The indigenous people, who have looked after the forests for centuries with traditional wisdom, can make substantial contributions. Empowering the local population, schemes such as the JFMs in India, should yield fruitful results. Together with modern technology like remote sensing and GIS (Geographical Information System), detailed plans, charts and maps can be drawn. Annual reports on the status of forests with detailed notes and maps at micro-scales are essential. Working plans, which are the basis for silvicultural activities in India, can be initiated in the countries of Africa. Maps in India are prepared by varying agencies like the Forest Survey of India, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation and the French Institute of Pondicherry, giving a wide spectrum of information on forest related themes. Clues and cues must be taken from nature to avoid problems such as those associated with exotic species’ plantations as in the past. Exchanging notes, ideas, technology and experiences between the governmental and non-governmental organisations of Africa and India may go a long way in arresting deterioration of the forest environment leading to a gradual improvement towards stability and sustainability in the management and development of natural biotic resource. ■ Notes and References 1. African Development Bank (2003): Forestry Outlook Study for Africa, FAO, Rome. 2. FAO (2001): State of the World’s Forests, Rome. 3. FAO (1993): The Challenge of Sustainable Forest Management. 4. FAO (2003): Forestry Paper 141 — Forestry Outlook Study for Africa, African Forests — A View to 2020 and Regional Report, Rome. 5. Hennig, R. C. (2005): Forests and Deforestation in Africa, Afrol News (Internet). 6. Kidd, M.: Forest Issues in Africa (Internet). 7. Negi, S. S. (1994): India’s Forests, Forestry and Wildlife, Indus Publ. Co., New Delhi. 8. Rainforestweb.org 9. Rawat, A.S. (1993): Indian Forestry: A Perspective, Indus Publ. Co., New Delhi.

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In pursuit of a CURE The Indian pharmaceutical industry has a long way to go in Africa which continues to suffer from falling health profile, says Manendra Sahu.

ndian pharmaceutical industry has emerged as a key global player. From net importer at the time of independence to a major exporter, pharmaceutical industry has come a long way and has left footprints in all the continents. Africa has a special position in India’s pharmaceutical exports, because it is just in continuation of domestic market due to similar tropical diseases. Indian pharmaceutical industry for Africa is also a source for affordable generic medicines. Africa is high on exporter’s priority in India to which they consider a potential market. With the technical capability and price, Indian pharmaceutical companies are well-positioned to establish themselves as major players in the continent. Battling Diseases The health profile of African countries is deteriorating. Africa has been facing many tropical diseases. The diseases like Malaria and Tuberculosis are resurfacing with alarming pace. On top of it, Africa is severely affected by diseases like

HIV/AIDS and Ebola Haemorragic fever for which there is no proper treatment/cure or vaccine available. Ironically, on the one hand Africa is facing several difficulties to meet falling health profile, on the other hand it has limited pharmaceutical manufacturing capability. In Africa there is a pharmaceutical exigency and can only be met by outside supply. In Africa, HIV/AIDS has become the greatest health threat. Sub-Saharan Africa has just over ten percent of the world’s population, but is home to more than 60 percent of all people living with HIV/Aids. In West and Central Africa the prevailing rate of HIV/AIDS infected people is around five percent of the entire population. In North Africa epidemic is still under control as in the most countries prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS is less than one percent. Similar acute problem occurs in Southern Africa.[1] As mentioned earlier, Tuberculosis is resurfacing fast in Africa. Even countries like South Africa, where access to medicine is comparatively better, it is the most frequently notified disease and has been gradually increasing since 1993.[2] Malaria is a similar threat. Malaria accounts for 25 to 30 percent of all outpatient visits, around 20 to 45 percent

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of hospital admission and 15 to 35 percent of all hospital deaths. Most cases of malaria occur along the river and localities closer to water reservoirs.[3] Another burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa comes from nutritional deficiency like Vitamin A, Iron and Zinc and underweight which accounts for around 25 percent of disease, disability and deaths. Women and young children are the most vulnerable to nutritional deficiency.[4] In the face of surmounting diseases, the drug supply is acute in Africa. The most disturbing is the access to essential drugs. The World Heath Organization (WHO) cites essential drugs as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;those that satisfy the health care needs of the majority of the populations and should therefore be made available at all time in adequate amounts an in appropriate dosage forms.[5] There are around 302 medicines and of which 90 percent are off patent and thus could me made available in reasonable prices. These include medicines like Ibuprofen, Morphine, Mebendazole and Ampicillne. However, a large number of populations do not have access to it. There are several causes to the problem, the important being unfair practices of transnational pharmaceutical and lack of physical infrastructure. The relationship between transnational pharmaceutical and Africa has remained controversial for many reasons. The major constraint for Africa remains the research priorities and marketing policies of such large corporations. Their research programs develop products which are inappropriate for the disease prevalent in Africa. Their policies of fixation of drug prices are too are manipulative. In these firms, the division of labour within their parent and subsidiary organizations is lopsided, important issues like Research and Development and financial planning are done at metropolitan centres while activities in subsidiaries are typically limited to marketing.[6] A large number of countries are less interventionist with respect to transnational firms because they lack resources, their market size is small thus they provide little inducement for big firms to bargain prices. These states often lack skilled

manpower like pharmacists, lawyers to effective formulate and implement pharmaceutical legislation. Their capacity to monitor and enforce compliance too is limited. As these authorities not properly equipped, the transnational firms deliberately incorporate such lacuna in the marketing tactics, which ultimately affect public safety.[7] The policy of pricing of transnational firms is based on what the market will bear and not in relations to the cost of production and distribution. Manufacturing cost of drugs are low in relation to total costs, typically under 40 percent and frequently much lower. A study on the retail sales price of 47 French medication carried out in Algeria, Congo (Brazzaville), Cote dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ivoire, Mali, Senegal and Tunisia showed that prices were higher in sub-Saharan Africa countries than in France. The French companies have long held a monopoly on drugs supplies to these countries. Because the governments of Algeria and Tunisia adopted protective national policies, prices were much lower in these countries than in France. The transnational companies minimize the declared profit by transferring price as the factor of production when their subsidiaries buy from the parent company. Sometimes such inflation of cost of product can reach almost absurd level.[8] These firms some times enter into marketing of dangerous or obsolete drugs without inadequate indication of use. The role of NGOs is important in terms of providing health services. However, in large cases the planning is done outside of Africa without taking full needs of to be beneficiary community. As a result in the participation and even benefit to the community is below expectation. Africa too suffers an acute problem of health professionals and infrastructure. Cameroon lost 35 percent of medicines in its central medial stores due to poor storage condition and poor inventory control which could not maintain the date of expiry of medicine. Similarly, Guinea estimated a loss of 70 percent the government drug supply between the central medical stores and health centre. Improvement in inventory management is

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helpful as shown in Kenya which reduced losses from 25 percent to less than five percent due to improved technique.[9] The Africa has too less number of health professionals. There are only 2 health workers per 1000 people in Africa. The WHO estimates that more than 4 million health workers are needed in Africa.[10] However the flow of health workers from Africa to developed world is alarming, almost a fifth of doctors trained in sub-Saharan Africa are working in such countries. This problem is compounded by several low intensity wars fought in Africa. These wars totally bring down the public health system, mainly primary health centres. Sometimes deliberate attack is made on health care centres and even on health workers.[11] The pharmaceutical production capability is limited on the continent. A pharmaceutical base in North Africa is building up with the French companies setting up production facilities where traditionally French companies account major pharmaceutical trade. In the rest of Francophone Africa pharmaceutical production is negligible. The size of African pharmaceutical market is modest, estimated over $ 6 billion which constitutes between 1-1.5 percent of the global market. It is growing at a modest rate of 3.3 percent, which is less than the overall growth rate of the world pharmaceutical industry.[12] Indian Pharmaceutical Sector The Indian pharmaceutical sector, as mentioned earlier, was at a nascent stage at the time of independence. The industry was rudimentary with small and medium plants which were producing elementary products like quinine, aspirin and antidysentery drugs. Over the years, it has grown in all directions, now, it has vibrant bulk drug industry, sophisticated pharmaceutical machinery industry and above all competitive pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Today India has become fourth largest pharmaceutical producer in the world and accounts for Eight percent of the total production in the world. Indian pharmaceutical industry is over a century old. The desire to indigenise the pharmaceutical products was the genesis of Indian Pharmaceutical industry. The pioneering company was Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical works in Calcutta and Alembic Chemical work established at Baroda.[13] There were other plants too set up by western Pharmaceutical companies which manufactured formulations based on imported bulk drugs. After the independence, planners were clear about the huge requirement of medicines by country of big size. The planners were clear that it would require a large resources, machine to build up a strong production base. The pharmaceutical industry was seen with the entire industrial section policy with an enthusiasm for rapid expansion. It was clear, the technology and know how and resources in pharmaceutical companies would come from abroad, thus planners were open to foreign participation. The government of India permitted the entry of pharmaceutical multinational companies to set up units in India. The government equally emphasized an integrated development of pharmaceutical industry starting with the production of

bulk drugs and not merely the production on the basis on imported ingredients. It paved the way for a rapid and diversified growth in pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical multinational companies, with the encouragement from the government, set up manufacturing base in India. They were drawn form the United States, Britain, Germany, Switzerland other European countries. A significant change in the structure in industry came about when the public sector pharmaceutical undertakings expanded rapidly. The frontrunner was the Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) which was established with the technical assistance provided by the United Nations agencies. Similarly, the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Limited (IDPL) was set up with the help from the former Soviet Union. The governmental share in the pharmaceutical production through public sector rose to 30 percent by 1972.[14] Public sector firms gradually became self sufficient in technology. It played an important role in training technocrats, scientist and engineers in the field of bulk drugs, which saved substantial foreign exchange. They emerged as an alternative to multinational corporations on which the government was dependent. They also played a leading role in incubating a large number of domestic companies. It shared technology with small and large players and helped building a large ancillary industries, especially in machine and engineering tools. It is because of such initiatives many domestic companies grew and became large companies. It is because of such initiatives, today Hyderabad has become the biggest bulk drug producing centre not only in our country by also in Asia.[15] The pharmaceutical companies in private sector in India grew along with the public sector. They too had modest start but now they are fast spreading into various continents across the world. The leading companies like Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Laboratories are emerging as global player.

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Ranbaxy has already established its presence with its product selling in over 70 countries. It has joint ventures and alliance in over 25 countries and manufacturing base in seven countries. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, the second largest Indian Pharmaceutical Company is emerging as a player with proven research capability. It exports pharmaceutical products to over 60 countries. The other companies like Cipla, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Lupin and Wokhardt are expanding their overseas presence. India’s Export to Africa India’s Pharmaceutical exports started, though modest in 1960, over the years it became a significant global player. The pharmaceutical export in 1965- 66 was Rs. 8 Million which increased to Rs. 74445 million in in 2003-04. The rate of growth of export in the recent years, have overtaken the rate of growth of domestic pharmaceutical industry. The export of pharmaceutical to Africa is growing with the time, in fact Africa as a market for pharmaceutical product is growing faster than overseas market. The reason for India’s surging export in pharmaceuticals is attributed to following reasons. The cost of manufacturing drugs in India is still comparatively cheaper as a result it can compete in the global market. It is for cheaper rate of production, Indian companies get better profit margin in the international market, including Africa. The export increases the market base of the Indian companies, which further adds to profit margin and plant efficiency. There are cheaper bank finance available for export from several Indian bank, which removes problem of finance significantly. Two additional domestic problems, drug price control and excise and sales tax does not apply on exports. It is a great advantage for the Indian firm as they further add to profit. Finally, over the years the Indian generic medicine could create international market reputation for itself, as a result extra effort to push products are not required. Indian pharmaceutical products are easily accepted in Africa. The export of pharmaceuticals to Africa is growing with the time. It has grown significantly in Mauritania, Algeria, Togo, and Gabon where it has grown over seven times in the last five years. In the rest of Francophone countries it has grown at least by three times. Only few countries are exception like Benin where it has not grown significantly. In two island states, e.g., Reunion and Comoros, it has actually declined. In general, it is almost in line with the overall export of pharmaceuticals to Africa. The unfamiliar French language and culture does not pose major problem to Indian exporters. India’s export to Africa, generally go through few gateways from where it is distributed to neighbouring countries. Nigeria in West Africa is a prominent gateway and it distributes to neighbouring Francophone countries along with Anglophone countries, it is for this reason Nigeria is the largest importer for Indian pharmaceutical in Africa. Djibouti works as another gateway to Africa where again pharmaceuticals are distributed to neighbouring countries. In the export of Pharmaceutical, a fluctuating trend is

observed. It is because trade depends upon tenders which are floated by the respective government. These tenders generally are called on the basis of funds supplied by various United Nations agencies or the donor agencies. The funds may not come every year. Tender, again, is subjected to international competition and may not come to Indian pharmaceutical companies all the years. It is clearly observed that economically better placed country like Gabon have modest pharmaceutical imports from India. Gabon has high per capita income and ability to provide better health services to population in comparison to several other African countries. It can afford drugs supplied by multinational firms as against cheaper drugs supplied by Indian pharmaceutical companies. Indian Pharma Exporters : A survey The survey was conducted to examine the opinion of pharmaceutical export professionals about Africa. It was based on a questionnaire and followed by interview. There was near unanimity about the prospects for Indian pharmaceutical products are high. The reasons as mentioned earlier, similar patterns of tropical disease and low production base. To access market and to establish clients, the export professionals employ a mixed strategy. The country visit is compulsory as indicated by professionals. All of them visit Africa, on a regular basis to study the prospects of their products and to locate actual buyer. They prefer establishing products in a country before shifting to other countries. The products they sell in Africa are generally their established products in the domestic Indian market. In order to access market, a lot of help is sought through Indian professional contacts. Exchange of information and views among fellow professionals is commonly observed. These information are based on first hand experience and thus are authentic. The information about the nature of a particular African country, prospects for products and the information about the local buyer are sought from fellow professional before entering into final negotiation. The help of export promotion council, chamber of commerce are of not significant help to access market. The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council (PHARMEXCIL) is a dedicated export promotion council of the government of India, however professional do not find it very effective in terms of market access. Similarly, other chambers of commerce are also not commonly of support to access African Market. Professionals prefer exhibition and buyer seller meet as a tool to access market, however they are not frequently organized. Professionals emphasize the need to have more such events. Finally, Internet is the least preferred way to access market. Indian pharmaceutical exporters prefer two methods of doing business in Africa, though its own established offices and through a local partner/ buyer. However, the later option generally preferred as it offers advantages. The cost of establishing office is higher and unless substantial volume of business is regularly done, establishing office becomes unviable. The local partner takes care of liasoning with local authorities like

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A F R I C A customs and drug controlling authorities efficiently. The customs and drug controlling authorities, both in India as well in the African countries are important factor in export. The professionals indicated that they faced no major problem with either of customs or drug controlling authorities. However, the concerns about the increasingly stringent regulations adopted by the African drug authorities were raised. The registration of drug is also getting costlier over the period of time. In the financial transactions, letter of credit is preferred mode of transaction. Cash in advance is too sought in Africa however credit and loans are negligible in Africa. Professionals repel popular notion that doing business in Africa is risky, however they suggest necessary precaution. The most important precaution professionals observe is that the letter of credit are issued from the banks from United States or from countries of European origin. They generally do not prefer letter of credit from African or Indian bank. In the case when letter of credit is extended through African banks, they prefer to endorse it by Banks from United States or Europe. The interaction with the Indian governmental is mixed. The interaction with PHARMEXCIL is rated low to medium. It is not so supportive in market related information, access or as a group of collective bargain. The Export Import Bank of India (EXIM Bank) is second vital organization, however professional have low interaction with the bank. Similarly, the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) to have low interaction among pharmaceutical exporters. The

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ECGC policies are seen as extra cost to the export which directly affect the profit margin. However, need base policy are sought from the ECGC to mitigate risk. The interaction with Indian Embassies/High commissions too is rated low. There appears to be a division among approaches to the governmental agencies. The bigger export establishment interacts with higher frequency whereas small and medium enterprises are not so forthcoming. There is no unanimity among professionals about the competitors for Indian pharmaceutical countries. The views differed from person to person based on the product they export. The competitors are seen from China, South East Asian countries and multinational companies. However, there is unanimity that, Indian companies are the biggest competitors for other Indian companies in Africa. Conclusion The Indian pharmaceutical sector is well placed to compete in the global market. It has achieved technical capability and has a large pool of technically qualified manpower to compete globally. Above all, the cost of production is much cheaper in India in comparison to its competitors. It is for above mentioned factors that African nations are attracted towards Indian companies. However, it is far short of desired level as Africa continues to suffer from falling health profile and would require more and more affordable medicines. The Indian pharmaceutical industry has a long way to go in Africa.

Notes and References 1. The gravity is further compounded because women are more affected by HIV/AIDS. For every 10 infected men, on average 13 women are infected and the gap widens. Further, women are being infected at earlier ages than men. There are, on average, 36 young women living with HIV/AIDS for every 10 young men in sub-Saharan Africa. This has dire consequences, as subsequent generations will be affected by it. (Regional AIDS/HIV data taken from www.unaids.org.) 2. V. Pllay, G. Swinglu, P. Matchaba, J. Volmink, Evidence for action? Patterns of Clinical and Public Health Research on Tuberculosis in South Africa,1994-1998, International Journal of Tuberculosis Lung Disease, Vol.5, No. 10, 2001 pp. 946951. 3. Africa Research Bulletin, vol. 43, no. 2, April 1st-30th 2006. 4. Rachel D. Hampshire (et. al), Delivery of Nutrition Service in Health System in Sub Saharan Africa: Opportunity in Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Niger, Public Heath Nutrition, Vol. 7, No. 4, May 2004, pp. 1047-1053. 5. Machel R. Reich, the Global Drug Gap, Science, New Series, Vol. 287, No. 5460, ( March 17 2000), pp. 1979-1981. 6. Malcom J. Grieve, Pharmaceutical Polic Process in Sierra Leone, Canadian Journal of African Studies, Vol.19, No.3, 1985, pp. 589-613.

7. ibid. pp. 589-613. 8. Meredeth Turshen, “Reprivatizing Pharmaceutical Supplies in Africa”, Journal of Public Health Policy, Vol. 22, No.2, 2001, pp. 198-225. 9. ibid. pp. 198-225. 10. op. cit. F.N. 3. 11. Philippa Easterbrook, the Health Impact of “Low Intensity Conflict”, Journal of Public Health Policy, Vol.11, No.3, Autumn, 1990, pp.277-280. 12. Pharmaceutical consumption in Africa is skewed. The most affluent population group incurs 70 percent of drug expenditure in value term and 30 percent in volume term. Thus affluent section gets specialized health care whereas mojority of population depends on general medicines which are too difficult to get. Africa Pharmaceutical sector development, World Pharmaceutical Market (Princeton), July 2003. 13. The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical work was established by Acharya P.C. Ray in 1991. The Alembic was established by T. K. Gujjar and B.D. Amin in 1907 in Baroda. Narayana P. L., The Indian Pharmaceutical Industry: Problems and Prospects, New Delhi, NACER, 1984, p. 34. 14. Ibid. p. 43. 15. Kohlli J.P.S., Sen A.G., Pharmaceutical Exports, New Delhi, Business Horizon, 1997, pp. 204-209.

November 2007-January 2008

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A selection of new books on Africa and by African writers from www.africabookcentre.com Against All Odds: African Languages and Literatures into the 21st Century By Cantalupo, Charles (Ed.); HDRI Publishers; Eritrea; 55mins; £29.95, including VAT at 17.5% THIS DVD contains original footage and material from an international conference held in 2000 in Asmara, Eritrea, on African languages and linguistics. It brought together over 250 writers, scholars, academics, cultural activists, artists and publishers from all over Africa, Europe and North America, and builds on the legacy of the African Writers Conference, held at Makerere University in 1962. It culminates with the formulation and ratification of the Asmara Declaration on African Languages and Literatures, a declaration of linguistic independence for the continent. This film brings together a host of writers and scholars, including Ngugi wa Thiongo, Nawal al Saadawi (co-chair), Abena Busia and Kassahun Checole. Much of the conference was conducted in African languages, with English subtitles. Hotel Afrique By Stuart Franklin; Dewi Lewis Publishing, U.K.; 48pp; Hardback; £16.99 IT OFFERS a photographic glimpse of the elite hotels of Africa which serve as an interface between the religious, social and cultural facets of societies and the international business culture. They are the places where the resources of many African countries — oil, diamonds, minerals — are bartered away behind closed doors. These are environments which have a strangely hybrid quality — their design, cuisine, music and global TV echoing ‘international’ standards. Yet, they are ultimately sites of tension, where cultures collide. At the same time, these hotels are viewed by local communities as symbols of achievement which contradict the more usual representations of Africa. Far from being despised as enclaves of the rich, these hotels have become ‘objects of desire’, the dream venue for weddings, or the pinnacle of success itself.

■ Editor’s Pick Desert Children By Waris Dirie; Virago, U.K.; 237pp; Paperback; £5.08 NEW SMALLER edition. A Fashion model, a U.N. ambassador and a courageous spirit, Waris Dirie was born into a family of Somali nomads. In ‘Desert Flower’, she tells her story of circumcision at the age of five, running through the desert, being discovered by Terence Donovan and becoming a top fashion model. This is the account of how Dirie and journalist Corinna Milborn have investigated the practice of FGM (female genital mutilation) in Europe. They estimate that up to 500,000 women and girls have undergone or are at the risk of FGM. At the moment, France is the only European country where offenders are convicted. No European country officially recognises the threat of genital mutilation as a reason for asylum.

November 2007-January 2008

The Devil’s Handwriting: Precoloniality and the German Colonial State in Qingdao, Samoa and Southwest Africa By George Steinmetz; Adonis & Abbey, U.K.; 208pp; Paperback; £21.99 GERMANY’S OVERSEAS colonial empire was relatively shortlived, lasting from 1884 to 1918. During this period, dramatically different policies were enacted in the colonies. In Southwest Africa, German troops carried out a brutal slaughter of the Herero people; in Samoa, authorities pursued a paternalistic defence of native culture; in Qingdao, China, the policy veered between harsh racism and cultural exchange. Why did the same colonising power act in such differing ways? This book tackles this question through a cross-cultural analysis of German colonialism, leading to a new conceptualisation of the colonial state and postcolonial theory. Fair Hearing in Nigeria By Chinua Asuzu; Malthouse, Nigeria; 328pp; Paperback; £34.95 WHAT CONSTITUTES fair hearing? This book deals with the twin principles of natural justice; indices of fair hearing; injuria sine damno; merits of decision irrelevant, proceedings invalid; fair hearing versus fair trial; memo judexi in causa sua; audi alteram partem; academic discipline, labour law and chieftaincy, State Newspaper Corporation; chieftaincy disputes; adjournments; constraints on jurisdiction; criminal law; and criminal investigation among other terms.

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COLLECTOR’S ITEM South African National Cinema By Jacqueline Maingard; Routledge, U.K.; 240pp; £42.99 THIS EXAMINES how cinema in South Africa represents national identities, particularly with regard to race. This significant and unique contribution establishes inter-relationships between South African cinema and history, showing how cinema figures in the making, entrenching and undoing of apartheid. This study spans the 20th century and beyond through detailed analyses of selected films, beginning with ‘De Voortrekkers’ (1916) through to ‘Mapantsula ‘(1988) and films produced post-apartheid, including ‘Drum’ (2004), ‘Tsotsi’ (2005) and ‘Zulu Love Letter’ (2004). Representing Africa in Children’s Literature: Old and New Ways of Seeing By Vivian Yenika-Agbaw; Routledge, U.K.; 160pp; Hardback; £60.00 THIS EXPLORES how African and Western authors portray the youth in contemporary African societies, critically examining the dominant images of Africa and Africans in books published between 1960 and 2005. The book focuses on contemporary children’s and young adult literature set in Africa, dealing with colonialism, the politics of representation, and the challenges both insiders and outsiders were faced with while writing about Africa for children.

■ Feminism, Revolution and Liberation SLAVE By Mende Nazer, Damien Lewis; Virago, U.K.; 322pp; Paperback; £7.99 NEW SMALLER format edition. Mende Nazer grew up in the remote Nuba mountains of Sudan. When raiders swept into her village, she was forcibly taken into slavery and sold to an Arab woman in Khartoum. After seven years in captivity, in 2000, she was taken to London to serve a relative of her master. Eventually, she escaped to freedom after making contact with other Nuba exiles. With journalist Damien Lewis, she recounts her life in captivity and describes the mechanics of modernday slave trade.

November 2007-January 2008

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Revolt and Protest: Student Politics and Activism in sub-Saharan Africa By Leo Zeilig; I B Tauris; U.K.; 360pp; Hardback; £47.50 THE EVOLUTION of student activism in subSaharan Africa is crucial to understanding the process of democratic struggle and change in Africa. Focusing on the recent period of ‘democratic transitions’ in the 1990s, Leo Zeilig discusses the widespread involvement of student activism in democratic struggles across contemporary Africa and focuses on two case studies — Senegal and Zimbabwe. He provides a historical examination of the student-intelligentsia on the continent that played a crucial role in the independence struggles across much of Africa. He outlines the development of grassroots activism. Africa South of the Sahara 2008 By Europa Regional Surveys of the World; Routledge, U.K.; 1536pp; Hardback; £400.00 THE THIRTY-SEVENTH edition of a guide to politics, economics and geography of sub-Saharan Africa contains detailed analytical articles by over 50 leading experts, exhaustive statistics and information on international organisations, and a country-by-country directory. It has essays on general subjects, names and addresses of key contacts in government, legislature, judiciary, police, political parties, diplomats, media, finance, trade, tourism, energy and other sectors.

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■ Postcolonial perspectives Revisiting African modernity and modernism Africa after Modernism: Transitions in Literature, Media, and Philosophy By Michael Janis; Routledge, U.K.; 280pp; Hardback; £60.00 IT TRACES the shifts in perspectives on African culture, arts, and philosophy following conflict with the European modernist interventions in a climate of colonialist aggression to the present identitarian positions in a climate of globalism, multiculturalism, and mass media. By focusing on what may be called deconstructive moments in 20th century Africanist thought on intellectual landmarks, revolutionary ideas, crises of consciousness, literary and philosophical debates, this study looks at African modernity and modernism from critical postcolonial perspectives. After the Party: A Personal and Political Journey Inside the ANC By Andrew Feinstein; Jonathan Ball, South Africa; 287pp; Paperback; £14.95 ANDREW FEINSTEIN became an active member of the ANC in the 1980s, and campaigned for the party in the first democratic elections. He was elected to parliament and rose swiftly through the ranks, earning the label ‘Mr Clean’ for his work against corruption. His feelings of euphoria at being part of the new South Africa slowly soured. Initially disappointed by the constant jockeying for power and the denialist AIDS policy of President Thabo Mbeki, Feinstein’s disillusionment grew as he sought to investigate the corruption surrounding the ‘Arms Deal’. He was forced to choose between his principles and the party. This is his story.

■ Fiction Pillar of the Nation: Child Citizens and Ugandan National Development By Kristen E. Cheney; Chicago UP, U.S.A.; 288pp; Paperback; £13.50 HOW CAN children simultaneously be the most important and least powerful people in a nation? In this innovative ethnography of Ugandan children, Kristen E. Cheney answers this question by exploring the daily contradictions children face as they try to find their places amid the country’s rapidly changing social conditions. Drawing on the detailed life histories of several children, Cheney shows that children and childhood are being redefined by the desires of a young country struggling to position itself in the international community. She moves between urban schools, music festivals, and war zones to reveal how Ugandans are constructing childhood as an empowering identity for the development of the nation.

November 2007-January 2008

The World Bank and South Africa: The Construction of Governance States By Graham Harrison, Routledge, U.K.; 176pp; Hardcover; £150.00 THIS IS an incisive exploration of the interventions of the World Bank in severely indebted African states. Understanding sovereignty as a frontier rather than a boundary, this key study develops the vision of a powerful international organisation reconciling a global political economy with its own designs and a specific set of challenges posed by the African region. This analysis details the nature of the World Bank intervention in the sovereign frontier, investigating institutional development, discursive intervention, and political stabilisation. It tackles the methods by which the World Bank has led a project to re-shape certain African states according to a governance template, leading to the presentation of ‘success stories’ in a continent associated with reform failure. Parenthood and Social Reproduction: Fostering and Occupational Roles in West Africa By Esther N. Goody; Cambridge University Press; U.K.; 364pp; Paperback; £60.00 OVER THE last twenty years, Esther Goody has made extensive studies of traditional and contemporary patterns of education and child-rearing in West Africa. In this book, she provides an account of the rich variety of institutions, such as fostering, apprenticeship and wardship, which have developed in West Africa either in the absence of, or alongside, formal schools, to prepare children for the wide range of economic and political roles now available to them in adult society. Drawing on her work in West Africa and with West Africans in London, she shows that among many groups, it is a common practice to ensure children grow up away from home.

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Bestsellers in India The fascination with Rhonda Byrne’s phenomenally successful inspirational book, ‘The Secret’, topping the non-fiction category, continues, while Manil Suri’s ‘The Age of Shiva’, tops the fiction category. TOP 10: NON-FICTION 1.The Secret Author: Rhonda Byrne Publisher: Atria Books Price: Rs.550.00 2. The Age of Turbulence : Adventures in a New World Author: Alan Greenspan Publisher: Penguin Allen Lane Price: Rs.695.00 3. India’s Century : The Age of Entrepreneurship in the World’s Biggest Democracy Author: Kamal Nath Publisher: Tata McGrawhill Price: Rs.550.00 4. Goodbye To Gandhi : Travels in The New India Author: Bernard Imhasly Publisher : Penguin Viking Price: Rs.425.00 5. We are Like That Only: Understanding the Logic Of Consumer India Author: Rama Bijapurkar Publisher: Penguin Portfolio Price: Rs.495.00 6. Great Speeches of Modern India Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee Publisher: Random House Price: Rs.395.00 7. Shakespeare Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: Harper Collins Price: Rs.325.00 8. The River of Lost Footsteps : A Personal History of Burma Author: Thant Myint-U Publisher: Faber and Faber Price: Rs.395.00 9.Brushes With History : An Autobiography Author: Krishna Kumar Birla Publisher: Penguin Viking Price: Rs.650.00

Room Author: Namita Devidayal Publisher: Random House Price: Rs.395.00 5. Bombay Tiger Author: Kamala Markandaya Publisher: Penguin Viking Price: Rs.495.00 6. The Bad Girl Author: Morio Vargas Llosa Publisher: Faber and Faber Price: Rs.495.00

10. Chindia Rising : How China and India Will Benefit Your Business Author: Jagdish N Sheth Publisher: Tata McGraw Hil Price: Rs.495.00

7. Protect & Defend

TOP 10: FICTION

Author: Vince Flynn Publisher: Simon & Schuster Price: Rs.525.00

1. The Age of Shiva Author: Manil Suri Publisher: Bloomsbury Price: Rs.495.00

8. 7th Heaven Author: James Patterson with Maxine Paetro Publisher: Century Price: Rs.495.00

2. A Thousand Splendid Suns Author: Khaled Hosseini Publisher: Bloomsbury Price: Rs.481 3. Stone Cold Author: David Baldacci Publisher: Macmilan Price: £ 5.99 4. The Music

9. AMMI Letter to a Democratic Mother Author: Saeed Mirza Publisher: Tranquebar Price: Rs.Rs.395.00 10. World Without End Author: Ken Follett Publisher: Macmilan Price: Rs.995.00

(Source: Bahri Sons, New Delhi, www.booksatbahri.com. All the books listed above are available online)

November 2007-January 2008

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COLLECTOR’S ITEM Culture in Chaos: An Anthropology of the Social Condition in War By Stephen C. Lubkemann; Chicago U P, USA; 401 pp; Paperback; £13.99 FOUGHT AFTER a decade of armed struggle against colonialism, the Mozambican civil war lasted from 1977 to 1992, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives while displacing millions more. As conflicts across the globe span decades and generations, Lubkemann suggests that we need a fresh perspective on war when it becomes the context for normal life rather than an exceptional event that disrupts it. This book calls for a new point of departure in the ethnography of war that investigates how the inhabitants of war zones live under trying new conditions and how culture and social relations are transformed as a result. Focusing on how Ndau social networks were fragmented by wartime displacement and the profound effect this had on gender relations, and demonstrating how wartime migration and post-conflict return were shaped by social struggles and interests that had little to do with the larger political reasons for the war, Lubkemann contests the general assumption that wartime migration is always involuntary. Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa By Stuart Franklin; Thames & Hudson, U.K.; 168pp; Paperback; £19.95 OVER THE course of numerous voyages to the Omo Valley, Hans Silvester became fascinated by the beauty of the Surma, Mursi, Hamer and Kurma peoples, who share a taste for body painting and extravagant decorations borrowed from nature. For these people, flesh becomes a raw material on which wonderfully inventive decorative fantasies can be played out. Hans Silvester’s photographs capture these accoutrements to form a parade of African fashion that is as rich as it is ephemeral.

■ Bringing Potential to Light A School Like Mine: A Unique Celebration of Schools Around the World By Unicef; Dorling Kindersley, U.K.; 80 pp; Hardback; £14.99 WHAT’S IT like learning maths in China? Are the games children in Mexico play different to the ones you like best? Children from Africa to the Americas explain in their own words what school life is like for them. Find out how some things are just the same as at your school, and how others are very different. Did you know that in Japan, children have lunch in their classrooms? or that in Peru children say prayers in the classroom every day? Meet kids from all over the world, visit their families, friends and teachers, see what school life is like throughout the day in each country and find out what lessons they like (and which ones they don’t).

November 2007-January 2008

Le Chateau: The Lives of Prisoners in Rwanda By Carina Tertsakian, Arves Books, U.K.; 501pp; Paperback; £20.00 TELLS THE story of life in Rwanda’s prisons in the ten years which followed the 1994 genocide. In 2004, around 85,500 people were detained in Rwanda. Many have spent more than ten years in prison without being tried. Every aspect of prison life is defined by overcrowding and hardship: the standard width of a prisoners living space is 40 centimetres; many sleep outside, exposed to the sun and the rain; family visits last just three minutes. Yet prisoners have succeeded in imposing order on chaos, and the prisons are effectively run by the prisoners themselves, through a highly efficient hierarchical system which mirrors the society outside. This book presents a vivid portrait of humanity pushed to the extreme: an intense and disturbing picture of suffering, ruthlessness, creativity, humour and resilience. The Hyena and Other Men By Pieter Hugo, Adetokunbo Abiola, Prestel, Germany; 80pp; Hardback; £25.00 MANY MYTHS surround the Hyena Men who haunt the peripheries of Nigeria’s cities. Accompanied by hyenas and rock pythons, they earn a living by performing before crowds and selling traditional medicines. Pieter Hugo’s extraordinary portraits of their liminal existence reveal an uncanny world of complex, co-dependent relationships, where familiar distinctions between dominance and submission, tradition and modernity are constantly subverted. While Adetokunbo Abiola explains the traditions and mystique behind the Hyena Men practice.

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WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT Tale of an African Woman By Thomas Jing; Langaa Rpcig, Cameroon; 332 pp; Paperback; £14.95

In Black and White: The Jake White Story By Jake White & Craig Ray; Zebra Press, U.K.; 342 pp; Paperback; £12.99

THE VILLAGE of Yakiri has been cursed by ancestral wrath because of the treatment of Yaa, the first girl who wrestled her male goatherd peers to earn the right to be initiated into the society of manhood. Her struggle is taken up generations later by Yaya, the granddaughter of Tafan and Wirba. Orphaned like her forebear, Yaya becomes a star student in the villages primary school and promises to go far. But, ask the villagers, is it right to invest in an education for an African girl who may become the property of another village? Beyond Equalities 2005: Women in South Africa By Southern African Research & Documentation Centre; Zimbabwe; 116 pp; Paperback; £22.95 THIS NATIONAL gender profile describes South Africa’s progress and challenges in achieving women’s empowerment and gender equality goals. It measures the South African governments achievements against its stated commitments both within its supreme legislation — the Constitution, its policies, the legislative framework it has put in place, as well as the international agreements it is party to. It also assesses the impact of the institutional mechanisms for women’s advancement that South Africa has put in place since 1994.

TRACES THE life story of Springbok rugby coach Jake White, right up to and including the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The first man to coach the Springboks for four successive seasons, White’s rise to the top job in SA Rugby is a journey of intense determination to succeed against all odds: a troubled childhood, coming to terms with the fact that he would never wear a provincial or Springbok blazer, starting out as a school coach, to his eventual elevation to arguably the toughest job in world sport.

■ India-Africa Relations Emerging Policy and Development Perspective By Dr. V. S. Sheth (Ed); Academic Excellence; Indian; 220 pp; Hardback; £40.00 INDIA AND Africa share a relationship that can be traced back to ancient times. Contacts and trade between the people of the eastern seaboard of Africa and the western seaboard of India have flourished for centuries. In more recent times, the relationship has swung from a period of great emotional and political solidarity in the 1950s and 1960s to selective engagement in the 1970s and 1980s. With the advent of globalisation and intense interdependence, India’s relations with African countries have changed and acquired a new significance. India-Africa Relations is an academic assessment by experts of this emerging relationship. U.N. Ambassador Mwelwa C.

Musambachime explores strategic investments needed to safeguard the future contribution of Africa’s fish sector to poverty alleviation. African economies, according to Girijesh Chandra Pant, rest on a rather fragile foundation. Pant stresses on the need to make African nations less reliant on key industries and look to diversify output and production to insulate themselves against a downturn in the market. According to Sudha Srivastava, Africa is undergoing fundamental political and institutional changes that could gain momentum during the next two decades with a potential to affect its forests positively. While Africa might not be too lucrative for Indian pharma companies, Manendra Sahu believes that this market cannot be ignored by Indian pharma, which is set to dominate the world pharma space. (The publishers of Africa Quarterly are thankful to Academic Excellence and Editor Dr. V.S. Sheth for permission to reprint articles by Mwelwa C. Musambachine, Sudha Srivastava and Manendra Sahu from the present volume.)

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D O C U M E N T S Speech by H.E. Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs of India, to the Executive Council of the African Union:

this partnership by supporting the ability of African entities to utilise their resources better, to add value and to obtain a larger share from the emerging world trade order. 25/01/2008 In this objective, India would stand as a true partner with Africa. thank you for this honour of consulting you and Given our wide-ranging cooperation and developing sharing our conception of the India-Africa partnerships ranging from human resource development, Partnership Forum. India and Africa have a historic health, capacity building, ICT utilisation — all of which relationship and this has grown into a sustainable are perhaps symbolised in the Pan-African e-Network partnership. From our struggle against colonialism and Project — we hope to take this experience to a new level. apartheid, we have emerged to jointly accept the chalIn this spirit, India has, for some time, been working lenges of a globalising world. Whether we have to deal on developing an Africa-wide dialogue. We have since with threats to international peace and security, the threat also begun to develop programmes of action with the from international terrorism or the scourge of poverty, we regional economic communities such as SADC, COMEbelieve that India and Africa traverse the same path, share SA, EAC and ECOWAS. The idea of an India-Africa the same values and cherish the same dreams. Forum came up during the visit to India in December We have a vision for a partnership with Africa for the 2006 by H.E. Prof. Konare. A Joint Working Group was 21st century. This vision will take us beyond our strong established between India and African Union, which has bilateral relationships. We will forge close ties with met twice already including the Permanent regional economic communities Representatives of the member and develop a new paradigm of states, to work out the details of cooperation which will take into the Forum/Summit. account Africa’s own aspirations Excellencies, Ladies & for pan-African institutions and Gentlemen, it gives me immense development programmes. pleasure to convey that my The theme for this Summit, Government has decided to host “Industrial Development of the India-Africa Forum Summit Africa”, is perhaps truly significant in New Delhi. This will be held for the next stage of the Indiabetween April 4-9, 2008 with the Africa partnership. We believe that Senior Officials Meeting on like India, Africa too is moving April 4, the Foreign Ministers’ forward on eradicating poverty Meeting on April 7, and the and creating employment and a Summit on April 8. better life for the people, and to The participation and the forbecome an important part of the mat of the Summit have been emerging world trade order. India decided in consultation with the has a strong commitment to the African Union Commission and development and industrialithe permanent representasation of Africa. In this we “We have a vision for a partnership tives of the member states. engage through revolving is the beginning of a with Africa for the 21st century. This lines of credit, capacity buildprocess. How we take this This vision will take us beyond forward will depend on the ing programmes, small development projects under our our strong bilateral relationships. outcome of the Summit. aid assistance programmes, Thus we have invited the We will forge close ties with and support to objectives of Chairs of the regional ecoregional economic communities nomic communities and African countries and regional organisations to fulfill the and develop a new paradigm of their Secretaries-General Millennium Development the founding members cooperation which will take into and Goals. Our support to of the NEPAD initiative Africa’s industrialisation has account Africa’s own aspirations besides the current and prebeen consistent and valuable. for pan-African institutions and ceding Chairs of the African Private sector investment Union. We believe that this development programmes.” from India is growing in representative group, which Africa and these investors would have appropriate contribute to the building of local capacities, the creation regional balance, will provide the impetus for a fulsome of employment, utilisation of local resources and to intra- discussion on how India could enhance its engagement African trade as well as exports. We wish to strengthen with Africa in the future keeping in view Indian capaci-

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ties and African aspirations. It is also agreed that the forThe conference theme dwells on charting a way forward mal outcome documents of the Summit would be a for engaging the Indian Diaspora. Speaking in my home Declaration and an Action Plan. The draft Action Plan is city of Durban, the Prime Minister of India, His under preparation and a draft has been circulated by the Excellency, Dr. Manmohan Singh, paid tribute to the AU Commission to the member states. We await the Diaspora, “I have often said that the sun has set on all response of the member states. The second document, great empires of the world, but the sun will never set which will be a Declaration, will address broader areas of on the homes of the people of Indian origin, who now cooperation and our common views on regional and live on all continents as proud and productive citizens international issues including the fight against terrorism, of free nations making contribution to the lands they are climate change and WTO negotiations. After the Annual living in today.” Summit meeting of the African Union, the officials on That is certainly true of the one million people of Indian both sides will meet for further discussions on the draft origin who have made South Africa their home since the Declaration and the draft Plan of Action. The areas on mid-nineteenth century. The citizenship that we enjoy is which we have agreed to focus in the Action Plan will as secure as that of any other of our fellow countrymen and include human resources and institutional capacity build- women. It is an affinity, an allegiance and a patriotism ing and education, science and technology, agricultural forged in the trenches of the epic anti-colonial and antiproductivity and food security, industrial growth includ- apartheid struggles. ing small and medium enterprises and minerals, develAs the leading force of the South Africa freedom moveopment in the health sector, development of infrastruc- ment, the African National Congress was very concerned ture, ICT and establishment of judicial system with police about welding together a diverse nation. In the 1955 and defence establishments under civilian control. Freedom Charter, the ANC declared, “All national groups The letters of invitation have shall have equal rights”. That “Our support to Africa’s been issued to governments and sentiment was enshrined in industrialisation has been the Secretaries-General of the the constitution of a free RECs. Details of the programme, South Africa. While people of consistent and valuable. logistics and other related issues Indian origin in South Africa on the India Africa Forum Private sector investment from are genetically, culturally and India is growing in Africa and historically linked to the Summit have been provided by us through your Permanent these investors contribute to the Indian subcontinent, the overRepresentative in Addis Ababa whelming identity is that of and your ambassadors in New building of local capacities, the being South Africans and the creation of employment, Delhi. I would like to take this continental affiliation as occasion to inform you all of this utilisation of local resources Africans. In the context of important initiative and express global political dynamics and to intra-African trade as where race, ethnicity and the hope that the invitees would well as exports.” honour us with their presence in identity is the basis for conflict New Delhi during this period. and tension, the ANC had considerable wisdom in furnishing the country’s diverse Address by His Worship, the Deputy Mayor of eThekwini peoples with these constitutional guarantees. Municipality, Councillor Logie Naidoo on the occasion of That identity is strengthened by the fact that South being invited as a guest of honour at the Pravasi Bharatiya Africans of Indian origin were committed and enthusiasDivas 2008 in New Delhi, India tic activists in the freedom struggle. Bharatiya Samman recipient, Billy Nair, as well as former cabinet minister, 8/01/2008 Mac Maharaj, and former presidential advisor, Ahmed Kathrada, were all long-term cellmates of former president here are historic ties that bind South Africa Nelson Mandela on Robben Island. Thousands of other and India. From colonial indenture to the men and women served in the ANC underground and Mahatma to our mutual freedom struggles, within the mass democratic movement. the facts recording this profound history are Today, South Africans of Indian origin are prominent in well known. This afternoon I want to turn my attention to every facet of South African life, from the cabinet and how this relationship is a powerful platform on which to Parliament through to the provincial and local governstrengthen a sustainable and mutually beneficial future. ments, as heads of leading government departments like the South African Revenue Service and the Human Rights I will concentrate on three main themes: commission through to business, the professions and in the ! Contemporary political dynamics non-governmental sector. ! Cultural leverage In the NGO sector, the spiritual head of the Divine Life ! Economic and investment opportunities Society of South Africa, Swami Sahajananda, recently

November 2007-January 2008

D O C U M E N T S passed away earning tributes from across the political spec- mental changes in economic and financial policy and that trum including that of His Excellency, President Thabo there will be continuity in the growth path laid out by govMbeki, acknowledging him as a great South African for his ernment. decades-long philanthropic work among the poorest South It is expected that he will assume the presidency of African communities. the country after the 2009 general election. He has enjoyed While freedom and democracy has opened new avenues a close relationship with key political and business for South Africans of Indian origin to advance their pro- figures in India and visited here in December as a guest of fessional and business interests, a sector of the communi- Shrimati Sonia Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. ty remains challenged by poverty and restricted opportu- I have every confidence that during his tenure, South nities. The overwhelming majority of the country’s poor are however indigenous Africans. A particular bone of contention has been the government’s policy of affirmative action, which has endeavoured, in the main, to integrate historically marginalised indigenous Africans into the mainstream of South African life. The perception and sometimes reality of Indians missing out on opportunities because of affirmative action is one of the challenges that government at all levels is sensitive about managing. On the grander scheme of things though, 14 years of democracy has heralded opportunities in every “While people of Indian origin in South Africa are sphere that would have been unthinkable under genetically, culturally and historically linked to the apartheid. Indian subcontinent, the overwhelming identity is Still on the subject of conthat of being South Africans and the continental temporary political dynamics, there was a great deal of affiliation as Africans. In the context of global political interest from around the dynamics where race, ethnicity and identity is the world on the change of basis for conflict and tension, the ANC had guard within the ANC. The party held its five-yearly considerable wisdom in furnishing the country’s conference in Polokwane, diverse peoples with these constitutional guarantees.” Limpopo Province, last month. The delegates voted Africa will continue to enjoy macro-economic and overwhelmingly for Jacob Zuma to lead the party after political stability and remain a highly attractive trade and Thabo Mbeki served two terms as party president. investment destination. Having worked closely with Comrade Zuma both in As India engages with the Diaspora, it finds in South the ANC underground and latterly in the ANC structures Africa, a cultural leverage that would be difficult to and government, I have been impressed by his astute grasp obtain in any other part of Africa or indeed the of the economic and political challenges facing the coun- world. People of Indian origin in South Africa carry try, the African continent and the world. He enjoys their cultural heritage with great pride. In spite of the culremarkable popular support across the country’s nine tural and trade boycott that India was very nobly commitprovinces and diverse races, ethnicities and linguistic ted to between 1946 and 1990, the cultural umbilical cord groupings. He has pledged that there will be no funda- continued to be nourished. With the unbanning of the

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ANC in 1990, India rekindled its relationship with South major ferrochrome plant, Apollo Tyres bought out the Africa with gusto. The flood of Bollywood popular culture, Dunlop brand and the Taj Group is expected to develop a visiting artists and performers and growing opportunities flagship hotel in tandem with a film studio in Durban. for tourism and trade has ensured a growing bond between With the major interest from Indian pharmaceutical comour two countries. panies, it is hoped that the added competition in this secA particularly heartwarming spin-off has been the tor will drive down the cost of medicines especially cultural cross-over of, for example, Bharatnatyam and HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria drugs. Zulu dance forms. Groups that have embraced this In terms of economic growth, Durban outstrips the genre have performed to wide acclaim both in South Africa national average growing currently at seven percent. The and in India. A few days ago, one of the South Africa’s lead- country as a whole is experiencing a major boom fuelled ing DJs, DJ Rakesh, was invited to perform at a New Year’s by a concerted government effort to grow the economy Eve Party in Goa. His claim to fame is mixing Bollywood and create jobs. music with a unique South Africa style called kwaito. This initiative is also helped along by In order for culture to remain a unique leverage in the South Africa having won the right to host the 2010 FIFA relationship between our two countries, it is vital that our Soccer World Cup. governments and private sectors offer financial support for The construction, hotel, hospitality and tourism sectors sustaining cultural activities. have all received a major shot in the arm and growth there South African religious groups in particular find it very is giving impetus to other sectors of the economy. A major difficult to obtain funds for new airport, King Shaka the construction of religious International, will soon be “A particularly heartwarming sites and to promote their built in Durban, which we spin-off has been the respective philosophies. Since anticipate will pave the way time immemorial, India has cultural cross over of, for example, for the resumption of direct had a heritage of the aristocflights between Durban and Bharatnatyam and Zulu dance racy and leading citizens being India. This is an extremely forms. Groups that have generous benefactors to the busy route and one that is also arts, culture and religion. embraced this genre have per- hugely profitable. Continuing in the tradition South Africa prizes very formed to wide acclaim both in highly its longstanding relawill no doubt impact on the South Africa and in India. A few tionship with India and political and economic prospects going forward. beyond our bilateral affinity; days ago, one of the South The trade and investment both countries are active relationship between India Africa’s leading DJs, DJ Rakesh, within the tri-lateral Indiawas invited to perform at a New Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) and South Africa has grown in leaps and bounds since Year’s Eve Party in Goa. His claim initiative and its strong develdiplomatic relations were reopment orientation. There is to fame is mixing Bollywood established in 1993. South similarly a meeting of minds Africa is India’s leading trad- music with a unique South Africa on the establishment of a just, ing partner in Africa. From rule — based multi-polar style called kwaito.” virtually nothing in 1993, world order. My city of bilateral trade crossed $2 bilDurban is currently at an lion (excluding India’s imports of gold) in 2005 and in advanced stage of negotiating a twinning arrangement with 2005-06 according to estimates of the Indian Commerce Chennai which when signed will give both symbolic and Ministry; the value of trade (including gold) has crossed concrete sustenance to our growth relationship. $3.9 billion. The historic relationship we share both politically and South Africa’s main exports to India are gold and silver, through the Indian Diaspora in South Africa ought to be a chemicals, coal, iron and steel, fertilisers, transport equip- sound platform from which to enhance our cultural, trade ment and paper. India’s main exports to South Africa and investment relationship. India is the waking giant in include motor vehicles, rice, metals, cotton, fabrics, leather, global geo-political and economic terms. pharmaceuticals and machinery. As a politically stable and astutely managed emergent Iconic Indian brands like Tata, Sahara, Ramco, Mittal economy with good economic and investment fundamenand Ranbaxy have invested in the South African market, tals in place, South Africa represents more than just a gategrowing in both quantity and diversity. South African busi- way to the African continent. ness has reciprocated through investing in India in mainAssisted by the ties that bind, it is my firm conviction that ly financial services and supermarket chains. the Indian Diaspora in South Africa represents an unbreakMy region of KwaZulu-Natal has received particular able thread, entwining our countries in mutually successattention from India investors. Tata has invested in a ful and prosperous futures.

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PIN PARVATI VALLEY The Lord of the Winds

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The Pin Parvati Pass was first discovered and crossed from the Spiti side by Sir Louis Dane, the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, in 1884. The first crossing from the Kullu side was made by English trekker H. Lee Shuttleworth in 1921.

ou can’t help but feel like Frodo Baggins on his long journey up the side of Mt. Doom to throw the ring into the molten lava to defeat the evil wizard Sauron. The trek through the 5,000 metre-high link between Himachal’s Kulu and Spiti via the Parvati and Pin rivers seems like an anecdote from J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy the Lord of the Rings. It isn’t a trek that’s done very often and is definitely a no for honeymooners. The Pin Parvati stretch works only for the temerarious. Go for a guide/porter if you’re a tenderfoot. The first stop on this fascinating trek is Pulga, which has a 79-year-old guesthouse. It has its shortcomings but it is an eyeful. An entry by an Englishman A.M. David who, with his wife and two children, spent six weeks there in November and December 1928, says: “The bungalow is not habitable till the rats are eradicated. They had during my stay here 2 napkins, 1 table cloth, 2 cakes of soap, my office pin cushion (and) one chair net which my wife sat through (weight 8 stone 10 lbs).” Pulga is a valley of legends. The Rudranag waterfall is a must-see. About 12

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km from Manikaran, the waterfall gets its name from its shape that resembles a water snake. An uphill climb from Rudranag takes you to the river Kheerganga. A bridge on this river is believed to have been built by Bheema. Habitation stops beyond Pulga. The next stop is Kheerganga. Legend has it that Parvati ran out of milk one day and Lord Shiva shot an arrow into the air. It split the earth where it struck, and milk came pouring out. The chalky white steaming 40 degree Celsius spring water at Kheerganga has to be seen to be believed. A day’s walk beyond Kheerganga takes you to Thakur Kuan where the Parvati valley meets the Dibibokri Nal glacier. Beyond Thakur Kuan, the Parvati Valley ascends gradually to Pandupul where two natural, rock bridges cross the Parvati River. According to a legend, the Pandavas created these bridges during their exile. A steep climb takes you to Pin Pass (5,300 metres). The Pin Pass gives you a splendid view of the snowy mountains of Hampta region on one side and the Pin valley of Spiti on the other. The Pin Pass climb works if you acclimatise well. Or to put it simply, let your self adjust to the lower levels of oxygen as you climb higher. It’s strange that you are just a silent spectator here. The body does all the work that’s needed. The heart starts beating faster, you breathe in more air and faster. Even the smallest task of tying shoelaces can make you gasp. But once you reach the top, you realise nature. The hard part, of course, is the return to civilisation. Blaring horns, perennially ringing cellphones makes you want to close all windows and retreat to the sunsoaked mountains of Pin Parvati. It’s a feeling you would like to carry with you forever. TOURIST INFORMATION HOW TO GET THERE BY AIR: The nearest airport is Bhuntar, 10 km from Kullu. Direct flights are available from New Delhi and Chandigarh. BY ROAD: Himachal Pradesh road Transport Corporation, Haryana Roadways and Punjab Roadways have regular bus services to Kullu and Manikaran from all major towns. BEST TIME TO VISIT: The best season to visit Manikaran is from mid-March to mid-November. WHAT TO WEAR: It is advisable to wear light woollen clothes during summer and heavy woollen clothes during winter. FOR MORE DETAILS: Himachal Pradesh Tourist Information Centre. The Mall, Manali. Toll Free Telephone Number: 1800-180-8077 Telephones: +91-0177 - 2625864 / 2625924 / 2623959 / 2625511 Fax: +91-0177 - 2625864 / 2623959.

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Hot springs can be found all over the valley till Kheerganga, in the pine forests across the river from Kasol, and beyond till Vashishth near Manali, but it is in Manikaran where the hottest water, 96 degree Celsius, gushes out from below the rocks. A regular dip in these is apparently a cure for several diseases including paralysis and rheumatism. November 2007-January 2008

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■ Contributors ■ MWELWA C. MUSAMBACHIME is the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Zambia to the United

Nations. Prior to his current appointment, he served as head of the History Department at the University of Namibia from 1998. For over two decades, from 1974 to 1997, Musambachime served in several capacities at the University of Zambia. He was associate professor and director, research and graduate studies, from 1996 to 1997, and associate professor in history from 1993 to 1997. He has also served as director, Institute of Human Relations (1991-1994) and dean, Faculty of Education (1985-1988). From 1974 to 1985, he held several positions within the History Department. Musambachime holds a Ph.D. in history and agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of four books, 22 chapters in edited books, 70 articles published in journals in the United States, Britain, Africa and Europe, 20 book reviews, and author of more than 90 unpublished papers. ■ GIRIJESH CHANDRA PANT is Professor and Chairperson, Centre of West Asian and African Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, in New Delhi, India. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Allahabad University, India, and a doctorate in economics from the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is working on India’s energy security, globalisation and the West Asian economies. He has authored and edited eight books and published more than fifty research articles in journals including International Studies, Indian Foreign Affairs Journal, and World Affairs — The Journal of International Issues. Dr. Pant was Vice-Chancellor, GGD University, Bilaspur, India, and vicepresident, Indian Academy of Social Science. He was Senior Fulbright Fellow at the Universty of Illinois, US, and director, Gulf Studies Programme, SIS, Jawaharlal Nehru University. ■ SUDHA SRIVASTAVA is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Mumbai, India. ■ MANENDRA SAHU is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai, India. His area of

specialisation lies in security, international relation and India-Africa Trade. ■ A. B. MAHAPATRA is Director, Centre for Asian Strategic Studies — India (CASS-India), which works on strategic

issues of the Afro-Asian region. The centre recently conducted a research project on Africa and India-China energy competition. ■ DR. RASHMI KAPOOR is a Lecturer in Swahili in the Department of African Studies, University of Delhi. Her field

of specialisation is African sociology in general and Swahili language in particular. She has recently visited Mauritius for her field work. She has extensively written on the Indian diaspora in Africa. She is a member of Sudan Study Unit in the Africa Studies Department of Delhi University.

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Note to Contributors Africa Quarterly, published since 1961, is devoted to the study and objective analyses of African affairs and issues related to India-Africa relations. Contributions are invited from outstanding writers, experts and specialists in India, Africa and other countries on various political, economic, social-cultural, literary, philosophical and other themes pertaining to African affairs and India-Africa relations. Preference will be given to those articles which deal succinctly with issues that are both important and clearly defined. Articles which are purely narrative and descriptive and lacking in analytical content are not likely to be accepted. Contributions should be in a clear, concise, readable style and written in English. Articles submitted to Africa Quarterly should be original contributions and should not be under consideration by any other publication at the same time. The Editor is responsible for the selection and acceptance of articles, but responsibility for errors of facts and opinions expressed in them rests with authors. Manuscripts submitted should be accompanied with a statement that the same has not been submitted/accepted for publication elsewhere. Copyright of articles published in the Africa Quarterly will be retained by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Manuscripts submitted to Africa Quarterly should be typed double space on one side of the paper and two copies should be sent. A diskette (3 ½” ) MS-Dos compatible, and e-mail as an attachment should be sent along with the two hard copies. Authors should clearly indicate their full name, address, e-mail, academic status and current institutional affiliation. A brief biographical note (one paragraph) about the writer may also be sent. The length of the article should not normally exceed 7,000 to 8,000 words, or 20 to 25 ( A-4 size) typed pages in manuscript. Titles should be kept as brief as possible. Footnote numbering should be clearly marked and consecutively numbered in the text and notes placed at the end of the article and not at the bottom of the relevant page. Tables (including graphs, maps, figures) must be submitted in a form suitable for reproduction on a separate sheet of paper and not within the text. Each table should have a clear descriptive title and mention where it is to be placed in the article. Place all footnotes in a table at the end of the article. Reference numbers within the text should be placed after the punctuation mark. Footnote style: In the case of books, the author, title of the book, place of publication, publisher, date of publication and page numbers should be given in that order, e.g. Basil Davidson, ‘The Blackman’s Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation State’, London, James Curry, 1992, pp. 15-22. In the case of articles, the author, title of article, name of the journal, volume and issue number in brackets, the year and the page numbers should be given in that order. In addition to major articles and research papers, Africa Quarterly also publishes short articles in the section titled News & Events. They may not exceed 2,000 words in length. Contributions of short stories and poems are also welcome. Contributors to Africa Quarterly are entitled to two copies of the issue in which their article appears in addition to a modest honorarium. Contributors of major articles accepted for publication will receive up to a maximum of Rs. 4,000. Contributions may be sent by post to: The Editor Africa Quarterly Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi-110 002 Contributions may be e-mailed to: africa.quarterly@gmail.com

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